AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Showrunner Discusses Original Creators Quitting The Show "It Wasn't Easy"
A couple of years after it was announced Netflix would be developing a live-action series adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender with the original creators attached to the project, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original creators quit and left the show.
DiMartino and Konietzko were attached as executive producers and showrunners on the series, but they left the project over the “creative direction” it was going. This was rough news not only for the fans of the franchise but also for the rest of the creative team on the series.
They were replaced by Albert Kim, who is the new showrunner of the series, and during a recent interview with SFX magazine (via GamesRadar), he opened up about the creators leaving the show and how tough it was. He said:
"There was a moment where I stepped back to think, 'What is this going to look like without them involved?' I felt very confident in the direction that we had charted. Netflix was also very enthusiastic about where we were going with everything, so it felt organic to continue with the show, even after they left. But it wasn’t easy."
"There definitely was a moment of like, 'Wow, it’s gonna be tough.’ I would have loved to have them as people I could talk to and consult, and collaborate with. But again, that was a personal decision on their part. After that happened, it was just about moving forward as best we could, and what we felt was best for the project."
I just don’t quite understand why they didn’t want to take it in the direction that the original creators wanted to go. Kim says that he would’ve loved to have them around, but they had them! They were running the show, but you obviously didn’t like what they were bringing to it. DiMartino wrote an open letter explaining that they were exiting because they couldn’t “control the creative direction of the series.”
The first trailer that was released for the show looked good, but we still don’t know how good the story will be. Will it be the best Avatar: The Last Airbender series it could be without the original creators? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
The synopsis for the series reads: “Set in an Asiatic, war-torn world where certain people can ‘bend’ one of the four classical elements: water, earth, fire, or air. Aang (Gordon Cormier) is the ‘Avatar,’ the only one capable of bending all the elements, and is destined to bring peace to the world from the Fire Nation. With his new companions Katara (Kiawentiio Tarbell ) and Sokka (Ian Ousley), Aang sets out to master the elements while being pursued by the exiled Fire Nation prince Zuko (Daniel Dae Kim), who seeks to regain his honor by capturing the Avatar.”
I included all of the casting and character details below. The series is set to premiere on February 22, 2024.