Nickelodeon Greenlights Steampunk Sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender is getting a proper sequel next year that is being handled by the original series’ creators.

Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of those great cartoon series that managed to hold a lot of simultaneous appeal for adults and kids by being relatively smart, funny, exciting, and moving at different points. Unfortunately, it also gave rise to M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, the movie that many are claiming is the worst thing to hit theaters this year. However, Nickelodeon has some good news for fans, as the company announced that a sequel to the animated series is in the works and will start airing sometime next year.

The new series’ working title is The Legend of Korra and will be handled by the original Avatar creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The new cartoon will take place a couple of generations after the original series, though it sounds like it might fill in the plot points that were left open at the end of the show:

The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender and follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang – a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenaged girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern Avatar world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang’s son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

So, let’s recap. An animated sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender? Check. Involvement of the original creators? Check. Steampunk setting? Check. M. Night Shyamalan is nowhere near this? Big check. This sounds excellent, and I’m sure that I’m not the only Avatar fan who’s really looking forward to 2011.