Avatar: The Last Airbender

Images and Voice Cast for THE LAST AIRBENDER: THE LEGEND OF KORRA

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: March 7th, 2011 at 9:31 pm

Oh, The Last Airbender, you stupid movie.  You are the first thing most people think of when they hear “The Last Airbender,” and I hate you for that.  There’s such a fantastic mythology at the heart of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, all of which was referenced but never explored in the lifeless film adaptation.

Avatar creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are on a mission to reclaim the phrase “The Last Airbender” with The Legend of Korra, a new series set 70 years later when rebellious teenage girl Korra becomes the new avatar.  The voice cast has been announced: Janet Varney will play Kara — Kiernan Shipka, Daniel Dae Kim, David Faustino, Seychelle Gabriel , Lance Henriksen, P.J. Byrne, and JK Simmons will supply additional voices.

The Legend of Korra is scheduled to premiere sometime in 2012.  Check out two new images after the break.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD vs. AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER; Watch a Great Mashup

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 25th, 2010 at 1:04 pm

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and the horrible adaptation of the fantastic animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender may have hit theaters but the properties aren’t done fighting.  YouTube user herff has created a delightful mash-up of the Scott Pilgrim trailer with footage from the Last Airbender TV series.  It’s damn funny and while I loved Edgar Wright’s film, I’m now starting to wonder if the fights would have been better if Scott had wielded a staff/glider.

Hit the jump to check out the mash-up.

Nickelodeon Greenlights THE LAST AIRBENDER Spinoff, THE LEGEND OF KORRA

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: July 21st, 2010 at 8:51 pm

Nickelodeon has given the go-ahead to The Legend of Korra, a spinoff of the popular and wonderful Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Before Airbender fans begin hyperventilating about a crappy cash-in on their beloved property (wasn’t Shyamalan’s movie enough?!), series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are behind the new project.   According to Variety, Korra will take place 70 years after the events of Avatar with rebellious teenager Korra as the new Avatar and the center of the storyline.  Variety also says that Nick is hoping the new series will be more “femme-friendly”, which is strange since I know more female die-hard Avatar fans than male ones. Nick toon president Brown Johnson said of Korra, “This new avatar is not only a girl, but also hot-headed, independent and ready to take on the world.”

It’s an interesting take as the main characters of Avatar will either be deceased or very old.  However, without spoiling anything about the series, there was room for the story to grow and I’m excited for whatever DiMartino and Koietzko want to do.

The Fire Nation Approaches in First Clip from M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER – UPDATED With 2 More Clips

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 25th, 2010 at 9:58 am

The first clip from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender has been released online and it shows the approach of The Fire Nation to attack the Northern Water Temple.  I just finished watching the first season of the animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is what the movie is technically based on.  This clip visually matches up with the show and the show lends itself to spectacular action scenes.  It also lends itself to a racial diversity that’s usually not seen in summer blockbusters and it certainly isn’t seen here.  Well, that’s not totally true.  The Fire Nation, the villains in the film, are of Indian descent.  They’re out to get Whitey.

But what I’m missing even more is that the show is funny.  Everything I’ve seen so far is deadly serious and I’m hoping that this is a decision of marketing and not a representation of the whole film.  But casting white actors for clearly Asian characters is all Shyamalan.  Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The Last Airbender hits theaters in 2D and 3D on July 1st.

Update: We’ve been given 2 more clips. All 3 are in one player after the jump:

M. Night Shyamalan Address Race Controversy for THE LAST AIRBENDER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 31st, 2010 at 9:04 am

M. Night Shyamalan has drawn fire for his casting decisions regarding his upcoming film, The Last Airbender.  While most directors get crap over whether they casted a particular actor or not, Shyamalan is being questioned for his decision to cast white actors in roles that are clearly not white in the source material, the anime Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Speaking with io9, Shyamalan finally addressed the controversy:

Here’s the thing. The great thing about anime is that it’s ambiguous. The features of the characters are an intentional mix of all features. It’s intended to be ambiguous. That is completely its point. So when we watch Katara, my oldest daughter is literally a photo double of Katara in the cartoon. So that means that Katara is Indian, correct? No that’s just in our house.  And her friends who watch it, they see themselves in it. And that’s what’s so beautiful about anime.

Hit the jump for a more in-depth explanation by Shyamalan.  The Last Airbender hits theaters on July 2nd.

First Images from M. Night Shaymalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 21st, 2009 at 7:52 pm

USA Today has landed the first photo from M. Night Shaymalan’s “The Last Airbender” which is based off the popular Nickelodeon quasi-anime,

“Avatar: The Last Airbender”.  I wonder why they didn’t keep the “Avatar” part of the title…

Basically the photo is a kid in his PJs about to kick your ass. The kid is Aang, the titular “Airbender” (which I always thought would be a great name for an airline run by a hard-drinking, unscrupulous robot), and he’s played by Noah Ringer who looks like he was custom-made for the role since he keeps his head shaved (I have a hard time believing that) and is already an expert in martial arts (which he probably had to learn when he kept getting his ass kicked for being the only bald kid in his elementary school).

There’s also a photo “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Dev Patel as the villainous Zuko (who is actually a character of Chinese origin in the show but all foreigners are apparently the same so whatevs) which you can check out after the jump.

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design