Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is probably just the beginning – creator hints at more movies

Fans of the fantasy animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" have something to look forward to. A new adventure will be released soon. The animated film "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender" premieres on Paramount+ on July 25, 2026. And if it goes really well, it probably won't be the last adventure fans can look forward to. That's what one of the creators of "Avatar" is hinting at.

Bryan Konietzko, who co-created the franchise with Michael Dante DiMartino and is co-responsible for the story for "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender," spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the film. In the interview, he explains that "the Aang movie was just one of a whole slate" and adds:

"I'm working on another thing, which we'll announce when the time's right."

However, it seems we'll have to wait and see whether the current film proves to be a success. At least, the Entertainment Weekly writer hints that it depends on whether "enough people watch the 'Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender' on Paramount+."

Avatar Aang: What the new movie is about

In terms of plot, the film is set about ten years after the events of the series finale. Accordingly, the heroes have aged as well. A press release from Paramount+ describes the story as follows:

"Avatar Aang, the world's last Airbender, learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve."

To help pass the time until the movie's start, Paramount+ has revealed not only the release date but has also published a first trailer for "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender." Here, you can get a glimpse of what to expect from this new animated adventure:

Problems caused by a leak of the film

Originally, "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender" was supposed to hit theaters. Then it was announced that it would premiere on Paramount+ in the fall of 2026. However, the creators were confronted with a problem they hadn't anticipated: the entire film was leaked online ahead of time. When asked about it, co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino told Entertainment Weekly just how devastating that was. "It was a dark day when we found out that that had occurred," he explains, adding:

"We were all pretty disappointed and frustrated and all the emotions. It's just one of those unfortunate things that occur in your careers, in your life. I've been through a lot of them in various ways in my life, so it's always a setback and disappointing."

Not the first restart of Avatar

It's all the more wonderful that the film is now officially being released and, if it's successful, it likely won't be the last. For this latest film, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino conceived the story together with Tim Hedrick and Kenneth Lin. The screenplay was written by Tim Hedrick and Christopher Yost. Lauren Montgomery directed the film. The film's voice cast includes Eric Nam, Dave Bautista, Jessica Matten, Román Zaragoza, Dionne Quan, and Taika Waititi.

The original animated series, which serves as the basis for the film, aired from 2005 to 2008. During that time, the series spanned three seasons with a total of 61 episodes. It was followed by the animated series "The Legend of Korra", which ran from 2012 to 2014 and comprised four seasons with a total of 52 episodes. In 2010, director and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan directed the live-action film adaptation "The Last Airbender." What was planned as the first part of a trilogy turned out to be a flop, so the sequels were put on hold. With the current "Avatar" series on Netflix, there is now another live-action version, which so far consists of two seasons and is set to conclude with the upcoming third season.