Avatar Roku is back in The Awakening of Roku. It is the latter half of his respective duology, as part of the Chronicles of the Avatar series — the young adult fiction series set within the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Continue reading “Randy Ribay on Returning to Write the Last of the ‘Roku’ Duology”
It’s the 20th anniversary year for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and both fans as well as the cast and creators of the show came together to celebrate at the most recent San Diego Comic-Con. From an anniversary panel to announcements about what’s to come in the future for the franchise, there was a lot to go around.
Continue reading “Recasting Zuko for ‘The Legend of Aang’ is Unnecessary at Best, Tasteless at Worst”
There are several series in the world of books that continue exploring the universe and characters of the beloved Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. From the graphic novels that continue where the original series and its followup, The Legend of Korra, left off, to the Chronicles of the Avatar young adult series, there’s been plenty more for fans of the franchise to explore.
Continue reading “Author Judy I. Lin on Writing the Minor ‘Avatar’ Characters in ‘City of Echoes’”
In the 20 years since Avatar: The Last Airbender debuted on Nickelodeon, a common question that’s shared among the fan base is which of the four elements — water, earth, fire, air — would one want to bend. Whether it be based on the element of one’s astrological sign or the connection they feel for a character who bends said element, it makes for a fun conversation topic.
Continue reading “How the United States is This World’s Fire Nation”
Voltron: Legendary Defender is departing Netflix. That’s right. The DreamWorks 2016 reboot of the 1984 series that straight up opens each episode with the reveal that it’s “A Netflix Original Series” is being removed from the platform, six years following its series finale.
Continue reading “Reasons Why ‘Voltron: Legendary Defender’ Will Remain Memorable”
Chronicles of the Avatar is back! The young adult fiction series set within the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is about to drop its fifth installment, centered on a new Avatar, penned by a new writer.
Continue reading “Randy Ribay on ‘Avatar’ Fandom and Writing for Roku”
On a new Hard NOC Life, Keith and Dominic talk about Awkwafina grand marshalling San Francisco’s Lunar New Year parade and the current state of Asian American representation in media, especially the rash of new shows on Netflix like Avatar: The Last Airbender and House of Ninjas!
It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, a few blocks away from where the Lunar New Year Parade would later be held. It’s two days after the release of the cautiously anticipated Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and three days since the beloved Nickelodeon animated series turned 19.
Continue reading “‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ In Concert Arrives at a Cultural Moment for the Franchise”
In the spring of 2021, Kiawentiio was filming a music video when she found out her life was about to be changed forever. She had received a call from her team regarding a role she had auditioned for the past few weeks. Thinking she had to do yet another audition, she mentally prepared herself for the worst. Instead, they had good news: Kiawentiio had gotten the part of Katara in Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Continue reading “Kiawentiio is Making Waves in Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’”
Fans of the beloved animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender no longer need to wait to catch a glimpse of the live-action series adaptation. The trailer is finally here!
Continue reading “Trailer Provides First Look at the Epic Tale of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’”
Netflix just dropped new character posters for their upcoming live-action series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Four character posters were released today (and hopefully, more to come of the others).
Continue reading “New ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Character Posters”
The Legacy of Yangchen is the latest book in the Chronicles of the Avatar series, and the last of the Yangchen duology. In the aftermath of the events of The Dawn of Yangchen, the airbending Avatar finds herself in the difficult position of having to de-escalate conflicts between heads of states of the Four Nations, in the midst of the threat of a powerful new weapon. To makes things even more difficult for her, she must turn to assistance from Kavik, whom she’s not on good terms, following an act of betrayal by the latter from their previous adventure together.
Continue reading “F.C. Yee Talks Exploring a Deliberate Contrast in ‘The Legacy of Yangchen’”
In 2019, author F.C. Yee brought the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender into the young adult fiction space, when he authored The Rise of Kyoshi. The first of the Kyoshi duology, readers got to explore one of Avatar Aang’s more notable previous incarnations in how she came to be one of the more hardcore Avatars.
Continue reading “From Kyoshi to Yangchen, F.C. Yee on Chronicling Stories of the Avatars”
We’re joined by Mae’s sister Sonia to discuss the inaugural film of Algerian director Rayhana Obermeyer, I Still Hide to Smoke. How well does this film convey the experiences of living as a woman in Algeria in the mid-1990s? How are the themes explored applicable to women’s issues worldwide? How amazing is Hiam Abbas in the lead role (answer: incredibly amazing as she is in everything.)
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 23: ‘I Still Hide to Smoke’ and a Plethora of MENA News”
Psst. Psst. Hoy! New episode of the ShoPowSho!
Episode 13: We welcome Actor/Filmmaker, Dante Basco! From Rufio to Zuko… to Ben Mercado of The Debut… to The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, we talk to the man who put Filipino American representation on his back in Hollywood! We talk growing up Filipino in America, following your passions, giving back and more!
Anyone who knows me knows I love The Wizarding World. My entire family does. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was the first ‘big girl book’ my daughter read. Her first serious Halloween costume was that of a Hogwarts’s student — she is a true Gryffindor. My wife loves the films — they are our Christmas tradition. We’ve been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter more than a few times. The books, the world, have been a part of my life since 1998. But like so many others, I am nursing a huge fan-wound because The Wizarding World’s creator, the TERF Who Must Not Be Named, showed their true colors. Those colors have betrayed the very values and ideals The Wizarding World extols.
Earlier this month, Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino publicly broke ties with the live-action Netflix adaptation of the Airbender series. The news was quickly followed by unverified rumors that Netflix is trying to “whitewash the series.”
Continue reading “How Netflix Can Still Help Aang Save the World”
Last summer, the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra expanded with the release of The Rise of Kyoshi; the first young adult novel in the franchise. Written by F.C. Yee, it tells of the humble beginnings of the hardcore, justice-pursuing Avatar Kyoshi.
Now, Yee is capping off the Kyoshi duology with the release of The Shadow of Kyoshi. In the aftermath of establishing herself as a fully realized avatar, Kyoshi stumbles her way across the world, tending to her responsibilities as best she can, when a mysterious threat emerges from the Spirit World.
In an e-mail interview, Yee discusses writing The Shadow of Kyoshi following its predecessor’s positive reception, on writing a story set around the Spirit World, and also his thoughts on the recently resurged interest in the series that started it all. Continue reading “From ‘Rise’ to ‘Shadow,’ F.C. Yee on Deepening the Story of Avatar Kyoshi”
On Hard NOC Life, Dominic and Keith welcome Lauren Lola — who took a moment out of her busy CAAMFest schedule — to talk about Hamilton and Mandalorian season 2 coming to Disney+.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life: The Lin-Mando Takeover of Disney+”
Actor Dante Basco is a name and face that has been bringing to life memorable characters for over three decades. While there are many to name, most people will probably recognize him as the leader of the Lost Boys, Rufio, in Steven Spielberg’s Hook, and as the voice of Prince Zuko in the Nickelodeon animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now, fans will soon get to read about his experiences in the entertainment industry so far in his upcoming memoir, From Rufio to Zuko.
Continue reading “Dante Basco Dives into His Career So Far in ‘From Rufio to Zuko’”
Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
These elements are known to kick off the beginning of episodes of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and its sequel series, The Legend of Korra. While fans everywhere seem to know Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra, they also know that there were many other avatars preceding them, all with stories of their own. While we’ve heard the stories of some of these other avatars like Roku and Wan, there is one that fans are familiar with, but by way of only a tiny bit of information: Avatar Kyoshi. Continue reading “From Fan to Writer: F.C. Yee on Developing the Story of Avatar Kyoshi”
Just in time for the release of DC Comics’ New Super-Man #2, check out our conversation with Gene Luen Yang, recorded live from the floor of San Diego Comic-Con 2016!
Continue reading “Hard NOC Live from SDCC 2016: Gene Luen Yang”
In the 1990s, Xena: Warrior Princess — starring Lucy Lawless — ruled TV. Her chakram, armor, and famous warrior cry helped elevate Xena to one of the 25 best TV shows of all time. It’s 2015, and we have a new TV super woman, and her name is Korra, the Avatar (voiced by Janet Varney). The Legend of Korra is the Nickelodeon animated series that tells the story of a young woman who has the power to control the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Her power to control the elements makes her the most powerful human on the planet. Korra is tasked with bringing balance to the world by merging the spirit and human world in perfect harmony.
Being a fan of both Xena and Korra, the wheels started turning in my head, so I came up with a theory that the creators of Legend of Korra had a little Xena inspiration.
Continue reading “Did Xena: Warrior Princess Inspire Legend of Korra?”
