Avatar: The Last Airbender comes to Netflix this week, and a lot of people are excited, but anyone who had their ear on the news back in 2020 knows that original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino had left due to creative difference.
In the letter which was originally posted, DiMartino wrote:
“Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
It was this letter that has managed to keep everyone cautious about the upcoming adaptation, but as Reddit user u/minor_correction has pointed out, DiMartino has deleted the letter. What’s more, he was also spotted in the premiere of the live-action series:
Avatar: The Last Airbender creator, Michael Dante DiMartino, has also beet spotted in attendance of the Netflix premiere along with content creator, Amanda Castrillo #AvatarTheLastAirbender pic.twitter.com/fuxjYTnpLn
— Prince Zuko (@firelrd_zuko) February 16, 2024
DiMartino and Konietzko had signed on to the live-action series in the hopes of becoming showrunners, but they eventually left the show due to creative differences. Though this did sound like the show was doomed at the time, the two were then allowed to kickstart Avatar Studios which are now working on an animated movie and a series about a whole new Avatar after Korra.
So maybe it all turned out for the better. Should they have stayed on, then we wouldn’t be able to get all this other Avatar material—which I vastly prefer to a remake of the first show.
We’ll have to wait until 2025 to see what Avatar Studios has to deliver, but you can watch out for Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix when it premieres this week.
