Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2: Announcement, Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and Everything You Need to Know

Warning: spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 ahead.

Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony… but everything changed when Netflix dropped the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender series. The first season is now available on the streamer, and more seasons are officially on the way.

Almost 20 years after the original animated show's release, the popular series has gotten another live-action retelling, complete with a culturally appropriate cast. Since this wasn't the first time ATLA had gotten a live-action adaptation — remember the whitewashed 2010 M. Night Shyamalan flop? — fans were more than skeptical about their favorite childhood show being remade once more. But the series quickly shot up to the number one spot on Netflix's most-watched list for English-language TV shows shortly after its release. Not only that, but Netflix has renewed the series for two more seasons just two weeks after its original release, following in the steps of Netflix's live-action One Piece.

What has made Netflix's ATLA adaptation a success? Well, that's up to each viewer to decide, but the impressive costuming, detailed cast builds, and CGI that actually looks like it belongs certainly help. If you didn't obsess over ATLA in middle school, the new live-action series is your chance to follow the tale of a group of friends training the last airbender to embrace his destiny as the Avatar, master of all four elements, while protecting their world from the invasive Fire Nation. With powerful lessons on friendship, morality, and the necessity of forgiveness, it’s no wonder ATLA has remained so beloved after all these years.

→ Season 2 & 3 announcement
→ Season 2 release date
→ Season 2 episode count
→ Season 2 cast
→ Season 2 trailers
→ Season 2 plot details

Yes — and not just a season 2! Netflix announced the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender has been renewed for seasons two and three on March 6, 2024, exactly two weeks after the first season hit the streamer. The company put out a poster with Aang's iconic airbending arrow pointing down to the numbers 2 and 3; both encased in designs made to resemble the Earth and Fire Nations.

“Fans across the globe have embraced Avatar: The Last Airbender, leading to a two-season renewal,” Netflix said when announcing the news, adding that, since its premiere, the show has reigned as the top English TV show with 41.1M views in just the first 11 days. The streamer also shared that the series had reached the top 10 in a total of 92 countries, claiming the top spot in 76 of those.

To coincide with the two-season renewal news, Netflix also unveiled a video of the cast reacting to the news. In the video, Daniel Dae Kim (who plays Ozai on the show) delivers the news to the younger cast — but not without some teasing. “[Netflix] shared a bit of news with me that they asked me to share with you,” Kim tells the cast as they get visibly excited. “It may not be the news that we are expecting,” Kim continues as the atmosphere changes in the Zoom chat before the big reveal. You can watch the video for yourself below:

Ah, the big question. The first season of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender dropped on February 22, 2024 — a nod to the original show’s premiere date of February 21, 2005. Given that seasons 2 and 3 have just been announced, it's still too early to lock in a release date since production has not even started. That said, most people believe Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 will premiere sometime in 2026.

In an email sent to press, Netflix announced “episode counts and details for seasons 2 and 3 will be shared at a later date.” For reference, season 1 featured eight episodes of roughly one hour each.

The real question is: Who isn’t in the live-action adaptation of ATLA? The massive cast has dozens of stellar main and recurring characters, and it's safe to say most of them are set to return for season 2.

The production is led by Gordon Cormier as Aang, the Avatar who can control all four elements. He was cast when he was 11 years old and already boasts several impressive Hollywood credits, including a role in Stephen King’s The Stand.

Aang’s two best friends, Sokka and Katara, are played by Ian Ousley and Kiawentiio, respectively. You might recognize Ousley from his role in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why or Disney+’s Big Shot; meanwhile, Mohawk actor Kiawentiio has appeared in Netflix’s Anne With an E and Marvel’s What If…?.

The beloved anti-hero Fire Nation Crown Prince Zuko is played by Dallas Liu, who you’ve spotted before in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Mortal Combat: Legacy, and PEN15.

Additionally, Netflix cast veteran actors Daniel Dae Kim as the iconic Firelord Ozai and George Takei as Koh the Face Stealer. (Fun fact: Kim voiced two characters in the Avatar world prior, lending his voice to ATLA's General Fong and Hiroshi Sato in its spinoff show The Legend of Korra, and Takei voiced the warden in episode 6 of Book 1 of the original series.)

Paul Sun-Hyuang Lee, best known for Kim’s Convenience and various Star Wars franchise appearances, is the fan-favorite, tea-loving Uncle Iroh, and Ken Leung, who most recently starred in Missing with Storm Reid.

It’s safe to assume Elizabeth Yu, known for her role in Somewhere in Queens, will reprise Zuko’s fiery sister Azula, and newcomer Maria Zhang will be Suki, leader of the all-female Kyoshi Warriors, again.

The main mystery going into season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is the ruthless Commander Zhao, played by Ken Leung. At the end of season 1, Prince Zuko and Commander Zhao have a major fight during the battle at Agna Qel'a. To save his nephew, Iroh ends up setting Zhao aflame, but we don't technically know if he's actually dead. Speaking to Netflix, the show's showrunner and executive producer Albert Kim teased that "Zhao’s arc in Season 1 is definitely over" and that “as a villain, he has been conquered.” However, he added that his “ultimate fate is left a little bit open-ended.”

One character we know will not be returning for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 is Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. The Princess, played by Prey star Amber Midthunder, sacrificed herself at the end of season 1 to save the waterbenders and revive the Moon Spirit. But, hey, flashbacks are always an option.

Aside from recurring characters, we can hopefully expect new characters to join the Avatar universe for season 2 of the live-action adaptation. The top priority for fans is earthbender Toph and hopefully The Boulder.

How will Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 navigate the actors' ages? Will there be a time jump?

Now, this is the million-dollar question. As mentioned earlier, Gordon Cormier was cast in the titular role of Aang when he was just 11 years old, but by the time the series premiered, he was already 14. Cormier actually shared his initial reservations about being cast as Aang given his young age during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“I actually turned down the audition when I first got it because I was a small 11-year-old and they were looking for a 12-year-old,” Cormier told the host. “There's no way I'm going to book this. I'm tiny. It's not going to happen.” However, now he's facing the opposite problem. He's not tiny anymore and the live-action will have to find a way to address it since Aang is still 12 biologically (and 112 technically) when the series takes place.

The rest of the actors are slightly older than Cormier, so it's safe to assume their growth won't be as apparent as Cormier's — but you can never know! ICYMI: Stranger Things, another Netflix production, faced a similar predicament for season 5.

The original Avatar: The Last Airbender series takes place over the course of roughly a single year across three books — Water, Earth, and Fire — and culminating with the arrival of Sozin's Comet, which has already been mentioned in the live-action adaptation. (If you didn't watch the mid-credits scene during the season 1 finale, head back to Netflix!)

A popular theory as to why the series got a two-season renewal, aside from its undeniable popularity, is to ensure the younger actors still look as close to their character's original ages as possible, especially between season 2 and 3. However, they'll still have to find a way to address the changes between season 1 and 2 and, of course, all signs point to some sort of time jump.

“All three seasons of the animated series essentially take place in the course of one calendar year [and] there was no way we could do that,” Albert Kim told EW. "So we had to design this first season, especially, to accommodate the possibility of some time elapsing between the first and the second season.”

This is precisely why Sozin's Comet is not as much of a countdown during season one of the live-action. “We removed that particular ticking clock from our show for now because we couldn't know exactly how old our actors would be for the subsequent seasons," Kim added. "We definitely thought about that going into season 1 so that we can accommodate for puberty, adolescence, time passing — all of those fun things that happen to real-life human beings that don't happen to animated characters."

Though it's definitely taking some liberties, the official plot of the series is pretty much the same as the animated show you know and love. The synopsis, per Netflix, reads as follows: “Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar.

Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.”

Season one was mainly inspired by Book One: Water of the animated series, and, judging by the logos used in the season 2 and 3 announcement poster, we can expect season 2 and 3 to center around Book Two: Earth and Book Three: Fire, respectively. If our theories are correct, we can expect season 2 of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender to be all about Aang learning earthbending — and at least a bit of waterbending with Katara at the beginning since season 1 largely glossed over that arc.

Again, production for season 2 has not yet started, so at the moment, there's no trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2. However, we do have a few trailers for season 1, one of which you can watch below.

How does the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender differ from the original?

Though we at first thought it'd be an extremely faithful reimagining, much like the case with the live-action One Piece series, there are actually a lot of differences between the original Nickelodeon series and Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. As we have mentioned throughout this story, most of the differences seem to be related to timelines and timeframes, which is expected from a live-action retelling. Some of the plot details are also being adapted, but deep down the core of the show remains faithful to its predecessor.

That said, the first and foremost main difference is that the original show's creators are not a part of the Netflix adaptation. Although Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko were originally on board the production, they left in 2020 due to creative differences with the studio.

“When Netflix brought me on board to run this series alongside Mike two years ago, they made a very public promise to support our vision," Konietzko wrote in his announcement post on Instagram in 2020. "Unfortunately, there was no follow-through on that promise... [T]he general handling of the project created what I felt was a negative and unsupportive environment.”

“I realized I couldn’t control the creative direction of the series, but I could control how I responded,” DiMartino wrote in his own announcement blog post, “so, I chose to leave the project.” In response, Netflix released its own statement about the production's resumption: "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.”