Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender faced significant shakeups during the creation of Season 1 when the animated series co-creators left the project. Now, following Avatar’s renewal for Seasons 2 and 3, they're dealing with another major change, because Albert Kim has stepped down as the showrunner. However, while this is a massive shift for the series, I don't think fans should be too worried.
Albert Kim, who ran ATLA for the first season, is stepping down for Seasons 2 and 3, per Netflix. Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani have been tapped as the new co-showrunners. Boylan was a co-executive producer on the first season, and Raisani was an EP, director and VFX supervisor on the Netflix series. So, both folks are knowledgeable about the series, and they have been working on it since the start.
Not to mention, both of them have impressive resumes outside of Avatar. Christine Boylan worked as an EP and writer on the critically acclaimed Poker Face as well as Netflix’s The Punisher and Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger. Meanwhile, Jabbar Raisani was a visual effects supervisor on massive shows like Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and The Flash.
Overall, their filmographies speak for themselves, and they seem like good choices to succeed Kim.
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On top of that, Albert Kim won't be leaving the show entirely. He will stay on as an executive producer for Seasons 2 and 3. According to one of Variety's sources, he is leaving the role to focus on other opportunities, like his deal with Disney, where he'll be executive producing the new season of Percy Jackson and developing other projects.
At the time of this writing, Kim has not commented on the news, however, this sounds like a peaceful change for Avatar, and I think the show is in good hands.
Following its premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, Avatar: The Last Airbender was met with mixed to positive reactions. Netflix then swiftly renewed it for both Seasons 2 and 3, meaning it will be able to tell the full story that’s shown in the three-book animated series. There’s been a lot of buzz around the changes made in the ATLA adaptation, and it’s obvious that fans are very curious to see how the next installments are handled, and they can’t wait to see Book 2 for the first time ever in live-action.
Considering this massive change seems to have happened smoothly and the fact that the new showrunners were already working on Avatar, I’m excited to see what they do with the show. I think the series is in good hands, and you best believe I’ll be using my Netflix subscription to see how they pull off the next two seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
