Avatar: The Last Airbender Trivia | 50 facts about the Netflix series

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is a new Netflix original television series based on the animated series of the same name.

Let’s find out some trivia and facts about it.

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American action adventure fantasy television series
2. It is a live-action adaptation of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)
3. First announced in September 2018
4. Albert Kim is the showrunner
5. With a cast that includes Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Ken Leung, and Daniel Dae Kim
6. Consisting of eight episodes
7. The first season was released on February 22, 2024 on Netflix
8. The series received mixed to positive response from critics
9. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 59% approval rating
10. Based on 56 critic reviews
11. The website’s critics consensus reads, “Avatar: The Last Airbender serves as a solid live-action entry point into the beloved franchise, although it only sporadically recaptures the magic of its source material”
12. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 56 out of 100
13. Based on 26 critics
14. Indicating “mixed or average” reviews
15. In 2018, Netflix announced that a “reimagined” live-action remake of Avatar was to start production in 2019
16. The series’ original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were initially announced to be the executive producers and showrunners
17. In June 2020, the creators departed the series due to creative differences
18. This was revealed after DiMartino published an open letter on his own website on August 12, 2020
19. The pair cited differences in their approach to the show compared with Netflix’s vision
20. Also citing a “negative and unsupporting” environment during their time with the studio
21. The duo ultimately received writing credits for the first and sixth episodes
22. In August 2021, Albert Kim was officially announced as a writer, executive producer and showrunner
23. He commented in a blog post: “My first thought was, ‘Why? What is there I could do or say with the story that wasn’t done or said in the original?’ But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. We’ll be able to see bending in a real and visceral way we’ve never seen before”
24. In the same post, Kim emphasized that “throughout this process, our byword has been ‘authenticity’. To the story. To the characters. To the cultural influences. Authenticity is what keeps us going, both in front of the camera and behind it”
25. Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore, Michael Goi, and Roseanne Liang were also announced as executive producers
26. With Goi and Liang both directing episodes of the series
27. In the first season, each episode reportedly cost more than $15 million to make
28. Prior to their departure, DiMartino and Konietzko had revealed that they are committed to “culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed casting” according to a statement from Konietzko
29. Konietzko had said that he was hoping to include Dante Basco, the original voice actor who played Zuko
30. In August 2021 following leaked casting reports, Netflix revealed the show’s cast for the main four characters: Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley and Dallas Liu as Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko respectively
31. Kim felt that “this was a chance to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as living, breathing people. Not just in a cartoon, but in a world that truly exists, very similar to the one we live in”
32. In November 2021, Daniel Dae Kim, who previously voiced General Fong in the animated series and later Hiroshi Sato in The Legend of Korra, joined the cast of the series as Fire Lord Ozai
33. Later that month, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lim Kay Siu, and Ken Leung joined the cast of the series, playing Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao respectively
34. In December, Elizabeth Yu, Yvonne Chapman, Tamlyn Tomita, Casey Camp-Horinek and Maria Zhang were added to the cast, respectively playing Azula, Avatar Kyoshi, Yukari (a new character added as Suki’s mother in replacement of the mayor of Kyoshi Island), Gran Gran and Suki
35. In April 2022, Arden Cho and Momona Tamada joined the cast as June and Ty-Lee
36. Later that month, C. S. Lee was cast as Avatar Roku
37. In June 2022, A Martinez and Amber Midthunder were cast as Master Pakku and Princess Yue respectively
38. In July 2022, it was revealed that James Sie would reprise his role as the Cabbage Merchant from the animated series
39. In September 2022, more additional roles were announced
40. With two of them being George Takei as the voice of Koh the Face Stealer and Randall Duk Kim as the voice of Wan Shi Tong
41. Takei previously voiced the Fire Nation Prison Rig Warden in the animated series
42. While Duk Kim had a minor role in the 2010 live-action film The Last Airbender
43. Production and filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 16, 2021
44. The series was filmed under the working titles Trade Winds and Blue Dawn
45. Principal photography wrapped on June 17, 2022
46. Stewart Whelan served as a cinematographer
47. DNEG handled visual effects
48. On February 16, 2023, it was confirmed that award-winning Japanese-American composer Takeshi Furukawa was attached to the project as its composer
49. Jeremy Zuckerman, who composed music for the original show, was originally set to return to compose the music for the remake
50. Later he denied his involvement with the show after DiMartino and Konietzko left the project