Avatar: The Last Airbender Creators Walk Away from Live-Action Netflix Series

One of the biggest hits of the summer for Netflix, at least if the streaming service’s own metrics are to be believed, has been Avatar: The Last Airbender. The animated series, which originally debuted on Nickelodeon in 2005 and ran for three seasons, spent weeks on the Netflix top-10 list after its arrival on the platform in May, setting a record for longevity in the process. That success boded well for Netflix: in 2018, the service announced plans to create a live-action adaptation of the series with original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serving as showrunners and executive producers.

But on Wednesday—just days before the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel series, The Legend of Korra, makes its debut on Netflix—the happy union between Avatar fans and the streaming service was shattered. In separate statements, DiMartino and Konietzko announced they had quit the show in June over concerns about “creative integrity.”

“When Bryan and I signed on to the project in 2018, we were hired as executive producers and showrunners,” DiMartino wrote in a statement posted to his website. “In a joint announcement for the series, Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.”

He added, “Look, things happen. Productions are challenging. Unforeseen events arise. Plans have to change. And when those things have happened at other points during my career, I try to be like an Air Nomad and adapt. I do my best to go with the flow, no matter what obstacle is put in my way. But even an Air Nomad knows when it’s time to cut their losses and move on.”

In his statement on Instagram, Konietzko wrote that while Netflix had publicly promised to support the creators’ vision of the live-action series, there was “no follow-through” on that pledge. As a result, Konietzko alleged, the creative environment had become “negative” and “unsupportive.”

“To be clear, this was not a simple matter of us not getting our way,” he wrote. “Mike and I are collaborative people; we did not need all the ideas to come from us. As long as we felt those ideas were in line with the spirit and integrity of Avatar, we would have happily embraced them. However, we ultimately came to the belief that we would not be able to meaningfully guide the direction of the series.”

In a statement, a representative for Netflix told The Hollywood Reporter, “We have complete respect and admiration for Michael and Bryan and the story that they created in the Avatar animated series. Although they have chosen to depart the live-action project, we are confident in the creative team and their adaptation.”