After exactly ten years on this journey, it’s time to say goodbye to Avatar News

Over the course of a decade from September 6th, 2013 to September 6th, 2023, Avatar News has gone from a little blog for keeping up with The Legend of Korra when it was airing, to a blessing that has changed my life, and, I hope, been a positive factor in the lives of the countless people who have crossed paths with it in the end.

From the smallest moments of connection in our Avatar News community that made my day, to the biggest exclusives that put me on the map, thank you for coming on this journey with me, whether you were a supporter or a hater, whether you were a casual fan or in the highest ranks of the cast and crew itself– we all experienced this together.

A new chapter begins, and I have to leave Avatar News behind. Call it destiny, but I feel like it was meant to be that this came with the ten-year anniversary– a finish line I never could have imagined on that day a decade ago.

And like the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of the Avatar began anew….

Exclusive: Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming in February 2024

It’s been a while since an Avatar News exclusive eh? While I do have this date confirmed, I personally think it’s possible it will change depending on how the strikes continue to play out.

The Avatar’s Fury tattoos!

About a year-and-a-half ago, I did an overpainting/edit of Alexandre Cabanel’s famous 1847 painting The Fallen Angel on a whim, transforming the subject into Aang.

It went a bit viral and to my surprise people started getting it as a tattoo, which is definitely one of the coolest, most mindblowing things to have come out of running Avatar News for almost ten years now.

Left to right, top to bottom:

• Tattoo by visualamor on ldrethegiant
• Tattoo by abi.kishibe.tattoos on pimbozosh
• Tattoo by kahunatattoo on m4urovitor
• Tattoo by serektattoo on bymron
• Tattoo by rothiertattoo on leodecavalcante
• Tattoo by madpeachart on xdekuu_
• Tattoo by tatto_olga on kris_adonay
• Tattoo by bettinastattoo on ddany.acosta

Jayden Zhang (live-action airbender, young Shang-Chi) wins bronze medal for Canada at the World Kungfu Championships!

You read that right, the Avatar cast continues to find new ways to be ELITE.

Jayden Zhang, who will play an airbender in the 2024 live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series and plays young Shang-Chi in the MCU, has just won a bronze medal for Canada at the World Kungfu Championships in Emeishan, China!

The host city is known for a pretty cool mountaintop temple… Safe to say this kid is a real-life airbender! Way to go Jayden!

(The bald picture is from a Shang-Chi award win at the same time as when he was filming ATLA S1, flex…)

The soundtrack of live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 is now being recorded, in Vienna, Austria.

The live-action soundtrack is composed by Takeshi Furukawa (who shared the above images from the recording process), orchestrated by Saki Furuya, conducted by Bernhard Melbye Voss, performed by Synchron Stage Orchestra and Choir, adapting themes by Jeremy Zuckerman.

Here are composer Takeshi Furukawa and conductor Bernhard Voss at a recording session in Vienna:

A new multiplayer mobile strategy game set in the world of Avatar, where players work together to defeat a “Barbarian Death Cult that worships an evil spirit set on dominating the world” is coming in 2024

As the title says, a new game has been announced! From Paramount (Avatar Studios’ parent company), Tilting Point, and AN Games (no relation to Avatar News lol), a city-building multiplayer mobile game is coming in 2024.

Right now we don’t know when the game is set, i.e. when this “Barbarbian Death Cult” is active. The press release (see below) does mention that players will “interact with beloved characters” so it has to be during some known Avatar’s lifetime. The artwork provided to us above contains characters from both ATLA and TLOK with a Korra-era background, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. Also I just have to say for posterity that the idea of the villains being “barbarians” feels a little off, but we’ll have to wait and see!

It’s possible that this is the “MMORPG” that was revealed to be planned last year– it’s likely that the “console RPG” in the same post turned out to be Quest for Balance, so it’s possible both of those games have now been accounted for.

Check out the press release they sent us (bolding ours):

Tilting Point, one of the leading global publishers of free-to-play games, and real-time strategy game developer AN Games, under license from Paramount Consumer Products, are developing a multiplayer strategy mobile game focused on Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise. Based on the renowned animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, the strategic mobile game will have players explore the Avatar world, interact with beloved characters and work together with other players to defeat a Barbarian Death Cult that worships an evil spirit set on dominating the world. Launching in 2024, the game’s official title and additional details will be announced in the coming months.

In this multiplayer strategy mobile game, players will take on the role of a leader tasked with building an army and community to restore balance in the Avatar world. Strategy is key as players will need to build cities, manage resources, construct and upgrade buildings, explore the world, and engage in tactical combat to become victorious. With a focus on city building, cooperative gameplay, and exploration, players will work together to expand territories, manage resources, and restore harmony to the Avatar world.

ATLA soundtrack first single “Aang Becomes Ocean” out now!

“Aang Becomes Ocean”, the first single from the re-recorded-with-an-orchestra ATLA Book 1: Water soundtrack, is out now! Full Book 1 soundtrack November 17th!

Apple Music

Spotify

YouTube

Avatar Szeto to star in next Chronicles of the Avatar books?

(Art by Avatar News)

Avatar Szeto, the fire Avatar before Yangchen, Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, and Korra, could be the main character of the next Chronicles of the Avatar novels.

In a recent interview with Nerds of Color, Chronicles of the Avatar writer F. C. Yee said he doesn’t know if he’ll be writing more books after Kyoshi and Yangchen, but “if he had his choice of what Avatar to tackle next, he named Avatar Szeto as a possible candidate.” 👀🔥

F. C. Yee introduced Avatar Szeto’s backstory in the Kyoshi books, revealing that he was born in a time of crisis in the Fire Nation due to natural disasters, plagues, and clan conflict. Instead of using his divine position as Avatar to enforce his rule, he joined the Fire Nation government as an entry-level bureaucrat and worked his way up with no special privileges until he was an advisor to the Fire Lord– that’s why he has that vizier-like hat in the few glimpses of him we see in Aang and Korra’s eras.

But as we all know, there’s more to every Avatar than their legacy, and in the Yangchen books we learn that Szeto’s life was secretly messy and “a library of intrigue in the realm of spycraft and trickery”.

His name comes from the Chinese Han dynasty title 司徒 (Sītú) meaning “Minister over the Masses”.