NickALive!: 06/07/21

Monday, June 07, 2021

McFarlane Toys Unveil New 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Figures

Avatar: The Last Airbender has been in the spotlight recently, with its popularity returning when the series hitting CBS All Access/Paramount+ and Netflix during quarantine in 2020. A while back, Nickelodeon also announced that they would be opening up a new studio designated to creating new Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoons and films. The show is filled with amazing characters and fantastic lore that can keep any fan entertained for quite some time.

McFarlane Toys knows the show's popularity and the demand for the series, and they revealed Avatar action figures are on the way. It does look like most of the original cast is coming to action figure form with Aang, Katara, Prince Zuko, and Sokka. To make things even better, it looks like Aang's beloved flying bison Appa is also joining them. Only one simple teaser image was released, and collectors can check out the entire teaser image below.

Each Avatar: The Last Airbender figure is highly detailed, and we can only imagine it will come with a nice set of accessories. We do see that Prince Zuko does get some nice flame attachments to show off his firebending skills with his design from the first book of the animated series. It is pretty amazing that McFarlane Toys is also releasing an Appa even if he is not to scale with this tv depiction. It does look like Aang will be able to ride him, and the detail on this flying Bison is very well done and be a must-have collectible for Avatar: The Last Airbender fans. Each of these figures is very well done.

Avatar: The Last Airbender has a huge selection of characters to continue expanding this line, and only time will tell what they have up their sleeve. Pre-orders and other information or not known just yet, but we can imagine we will see links to go live in the Fall.

"New and exciting for you folks...we’ve got Avatar: The Last Airbender action figures from McFarlane Toys coming your way VERY soon!," Todd McFarlane wrote on Twitter, adding "[y]ou won’t have to wait 100 years before you can pre-order this first wave... more to come, stay tuned! #avatarthelastairbender #mcfarlanetoys #toys".

Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra on Paramount+ and Netflix!

Subscribe to the NEW official Avatar: The Last Airbender YouTube channel!: https://at.nick.com/AvatarSubscribe

More Nick: Nickelodeon Establishes Avatar Studios; Announces Animated 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Movie!

Sources: Bleeding Cool, CBR.com.

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'Power Rangers Dino Fury' Set to Move to Netflix with Season 2

The iconic Power Rangers TV series has been a staple on Nickelodeon's schedules for 10 years, however, it seems like things are being shaken up.

In an interview with iHeartRadio, actor Chance Perez, who portrays Javi (Black Ranger) on Power Rangers Dino Fury, the current iteration of the long-running series, revealed that, after season one finishes on Nickelodeon later this year, the recently wrapped season two of Power Rangers Dino Fury will be heading to Netflix.

It's currently unclear whether Netflix has the first-run rights to Power Rangers Dino Fury season two, with Nickelodeon airing the season at a later date, or whether Netflix will be the exclusive home to the season.

The news comes as Netflix prepares to add the first half (11 episodes) of Power Rangers Dino Fury season one to its programming libraries in the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand, and Canada on Tuesday, June 15. Dino Fury is currently on its first mid-season hiatus, with new episodes expected to resume airing this fall. As Nick has only aired the first eight episodes so far, Netflix will be hosting the U.S. premieres of three new episodes.

Adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai series Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, the 28th and 29th seasons of Power Rangers features morphinominal battle footage with an all-new cast of dynamic heroes, evil villains and imagination-defying monsters.

Hasbro confirmed during their 2021 Investor Event that they are planning to reinvent the iconic Power Rangers franchise after Power Rangers Dino Fury with a new era that will be “creating a new universe for a broader audience across film, premium TV, animation & kids content”.

It was previously reported back in July of last year that Hasbro would be ending their partnership with Japan's Toei, the makers of the Super Sentai series, of which footage has been used in Power Rangers throughout the years. It was also reported that Paramount was developing a new Power Rangers theatrical film. This would conclude the current iteration of the Power Rangers series as it has been for 28 years with Power Rangers Dino Fury, which was officially confirmed to have two seasons according to the Hasbro Investor Event.

This of course isn’t the end of the world-famous franchise as a whole, because Hasbro plans to completely reinvent the brand with new film and TV content across the same expanded universe.

Further expressed is the fact that End of the F***ing World and I Am Not Okay With This creator and director Jonathan Entwistle will be assuming a creative leadership role in the vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Kevin Feige. This was confirmed Hasbro and eOne back in October of last year.

Hasbro acquired the iconic Power Rangers franchise from Saban Brands back in 2018 in the wake of the failed attempt to expand the series into a greater cinematic universe. No doubt a franchise as rich as Power Rangers has the potential to expand. Across comics, series, and action figures, the world of Power Rangers is vast, and with adult fans as well as new generations of little kids coming up every few years, there's an audience for a range of content. Hasbro seems to be addressing the reboot holistically, reinventing the franchise in major ways.

The shift away from Toei could signal a greater detachment from the "tokusatsu" tropes that made the franchise so unique in the States. It's too early to tell where Hasbro plans to take Power Rangers, but between divorcing the series from its roots in Super Sentai and bringing in a director of more adult content, it seems that the cinematic, multi-platform universe will be quite unlike anything we've seen before.

It’s also important to note that production for the Power Rangers franchise has moved from Allspark to another Hasbro subsidiary, Entertainment One (One). This transition can mean multiple things for the Power Rangers franchise. eOne is known for the popular children’s animated series Peppa Pig, so it’s possible that an animated adaptation could be in the works.

With Hasbro completely reimagining the franchise, this definitely seems to mean that there will be a lot more content for fans to enjoy once this transition is fully put in place.

In Power Rangers Dino Fury, an army of powerful alien beings is unleashed on Earth threatening life as we know it, and a brand-new team of Power Rangers, fueled by the pre-historic power of the dinosaurs, are recruited to deal with the threat. The series features a vibrant cast:

Russell Curry – Red Ranger “Zayto”

About: Zayto is an alien from the planet Rafkon. He has been on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, frozen in stasis. After he is revived, he leads the Dino Fury Power Rangers in the hopes of stopping the evil forces that destroyed his planet from destroying Earth.

Dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus Rex