'Avatar Aang' creators unveil first Avatar Studios film at Comic-Con

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko unveiled their latest project, animated fantasy film "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender," at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, saying they wanted their first Avatar Studios project to resonate with longtime fans.

"We had a lot of ideas for different projects in TV and film," DiMartino told Reuters. "The idea to start with a feature came more from the studio because if we're going to come back, we're going to come back big."

Directed by Lauren Montgomery, the film explores a chapter fans have long wanted to see: Aang and his friends as adults.

"Landing on the idea of Aang and friends being grown up felt like a natural progression of the original story," DiMartino said.

The film follows Aang, a man with the powers to manipulate air, later in his life as he continues to grapple with the trauma he experienced as a child.

The creators also said the new animated series "Avatar: Seven Havens" will debut on Paramount+ on October 9. The 26-episode series follows a young Earthbender who discovers she is the next Avatar after Korra in a world devastated by a catastrophic event. Branded humanity's destroyer rather than its saviour, she must navigate a dangerous and fractured society.

The franchise's first feature film has faced setbacks. In April, the entire movie leaked online after being posted on X by an unknown source. The leak came after Paramount cancelled the film's planned October 2026 theatrical release and shifted it to Paramount+, where it premieres on July 25.

Despite the disappointments, DiMartino and Konietzko remain optimistic about the future of Avatar Studios.

"I woke to the news on a Sunday morning," Konietzko said of the leak. "To have this unceremonious, quite rude thing happen was pretty harsh."

Still, he said the franchise's passionate fan base continues to fuel its success.

The voice cast includes Eric Nam as Aang, Dave Bautista as the villain Tagah, Jessica Matten as Katara, Román Zaragoza as Sokka, Steven Yeun as Zuko and Dionne Quan as Toph Beifong.

For Matten, an Indigenous actor voicing an Indigenous character, the role carries particular significance.

"It directly impacts my Native community by allowing somebody to have this role," she said, adding that it has helped her connect with wider audiences and decision-makers in the industry.

DiMartino and Konietzko spent two years developing a live-action adaptation of the original "Avatar" series for Netflix before departing in 2020, citing "creative differences."

The live-action series debuted in 2024 under Albert Kim, who led the first season. Jabbar Raisani and Christine Boylan will direct the next two seasons after Kim stepped down in 2024.

In 2021, the co-creators reunited with Nickelodeon to launch Avatar Studios, a dedicated division focused on expanding the world of the original franchise through new films and series.