Michael DiMartino, the co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender and its successor, The Legend of Korra, recently revealed new behind-the-scenes information about the production of the latter series, where some new details about both Nickelodeon shows came to light.
In a special podcast episode with The Illustration Department, DiMartino discussed the challenges of creating Avatar: The Last Airbender’s sequel series, The Legend of Korra. DiMartino stated about the sequel’s darker themes, "We could never have made Korra first, Nickelodeon would never. Even when we made the show, they were like, 'What do we do with this show?' Because it didn’t quite fit their kid audience."
DiMartino also confirmed that The Legend of Korra’s audience had been purposely aged up, stating, "Aang’s kind of middle grade and Korra’s YA, since we aged up more teenager. It just sort of naturally happened that some of the stuff got a little more dark and serious." The Legend of Korra’s content is significantly darker than that of its predecessor, from themes of trauma and depression to on-screen deaths and torture sequences that fans are still surprised were aired by Nickelodeon.
DiMartino also stated that despite the show’s success on Nickelodeon, the network was upset about acquiring a teenage audience. "A lot of teenagers were watching it and it was doing well. But for their demographics, they were like, 'We want the younger kids, we don’t want teenagers,'" he said.
Although The Legend of Korra may have struggled to get approval from Nickelodeon, the series aired to exceptional viewership, leading to the continuation of the Avatar franchise. The franchise’s upcoming animated film, Aang: The Last Airbender, will serve as the sequel movie to Avatar: The Last Airbender, following the Gaang into adulthood; it's scheduled to premiere on Jan. 30, 2026. A third series of the Avatar franchise, following the Avatar after Korra, has been confirmed by DiMartino, but no official release date has yet been announced.
Stream Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra on Paramount+ and Netflix! Try Paramount+ for FREE at ParamountPlus.com
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Listen to the official A:TLA podcast, Avatar: Braving the Elements!
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Original source: CBR.
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