Fans of the acclaimed Nickeoldeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender in the U.S. will soon have plenty of binge-watching material courtesy of Netflix, as the series releases on the service this Friday. The series are set to be available among the streaming giant's new additions to its stateside queue. With the coronavirus pandemic leaving much of normal life at a standstill, this will certainly be exciting news to hear for the legions of devoted Avatar followers.
Avatar: The Last Airbender began airing on Nickelodeon in 2005, where it ran for three seasons and emerged as an enormous hit for the network. Taking place in a world divided into Four Nations, Avatar was heavily influenced by Japanese anime and introduced the concept of "bending," the ability of some to manipulate the element of their designated nation, either Earth, Fire, Water, or Air. The Avatar is the lone individual capable of bending all of the elements, with Avatar placing its focus on 12-year old Avatar Aang, a monk from the Southern Air Temple who must master the elements of Water, Earth, and Fire in order to stop the Fire Nation's conquest of the world.
All three seasons, or as the show refers to them, "Books," of Avatar will be available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. on Friday, May 15, at 12:01 am. While the duration of Avatar's stay isn't clear, the series could be set to stay put there for quite a while due to Netflix itself getting in on the action with the upcoming live-action reboot of the original Avatar series. It will mark the second such attempt to translate the series to live-action, following 2010's disastrous big-screen adaptation The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
While the three seasons of Avatar are also available on various other streaming platforms, such as iTunes, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, and others, the inclusion of the series on Netflix makes the entire story of Aang and Avatar's many other great characters readily available to anyone with an American Netflix account. Avatar is among the most universally beloved animated series ever created, with its popularity even leading to a follow-up series, The Legend of Korra. Though there's no word yet on whether it will join its predecessor in the near future, Avatar arriving on Netflix while the platform is developing the reboot makes it a no-brainer.
With the disruptions to daily life brought about by the coronavirus, the three seasons of Avatar and the adventurous tale they tell are the perfect way to bring a little fun and joy into the lives of the millions of people stuck at home. Twelve years after its conclusion, the series continues to draw ongoing adoration from everyone from young children to fully grown adults. With plenty of time to kill at the moment, devoted lovers of Avatar: The Last Airbender will want to mark their calendars for this Friday, and maybe even use the occasion to introduce newcomers to Team Avatar's many adventures.