Avatar Aang's Return Praised By Critics 19 Years After The Last Airbender's Original Run

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Published Jul 21, 2026, 8:37 AM EDT

An avid comic book fan since she first read "Stan Lee's Soapbox," Allison Hambrick is your friendly neighborhood generalist writer. Journalism, editing, media production, copywriting—she does it all. From her very first blog post about Smallville as a primary schooler, Allison developed a passion for superheroes and the entertainment industry at large.

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Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender marks a triumphant return for the fan-favorite Nickelodeon franchise.

Starring Eric Nam as Aang, the animated film is directed by Lauren Montgomery and co-directed by Steven Ahn and William Mata. The rest of the cast includes Steven Yeun, Dave Bautista, Dionne Quan, Roman Zaragoza, and Jessica Matten. Original franchise creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serve as executive producers.

This new cast inherited their roles from Zach Tyler Eisen, Dante Basco, Michaela Jill Murphy, Jack De Sena, and Mae Whitman from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender follows Aang roughly a decade after his adventures in the original show, as he searches for an ancient relic that could restore balance by granting airbending abilities to nonbenders.

Though the original series boasts a rare 100% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the latest entry has a respectable 89%, indicating primarily positive reception. An audience score has yet to generate, as Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender releases on July 25. Prior to the new movie, its sequel series, The Legend of Korra, scored a similar 88% among critics. Its live-action adaptations fared less positively, with the 2010 movie earning a lowly 5% while the Netflix version holds a mixed-to-positive 65%.

As such, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is the most well-received project in the franchise since the 2005 series. That said, it is not exempt from criticism, with ScreenRant's Molly Freeman stating: "While there are some glimmers of what made the original series so much fun to watch, Avatar Aang is a merely middling return to the universe, with a blend of new and old that's, frankly, jarring to watch."

The movie's release has been the subject of much speculation, with its release window being shifted a few times and multiple clips leaking onto the internet earlier this year. Though Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender was slated for a theatrical debut in fall of 2026, Parmount has instead moved it to a streaming release.

Subsequently, the animated movie was given a July release date, four months ahead of its original window. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender will also have a brief, limited run in theaters; however, screenings are only being held in Los Angeles and New York. This release will qualify the film for awards consideration.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender debuts on July 25, 2026, on Paramount+.