Avatar: The Last Airbender created a rich and unique fantasy world that spawned an entire franchise Avatar Studios has the opportunity to explore. Sequel series, comics and books could only do so much to the world in the years since the original series ended, and the result is that fans clutch onto every bit of lore they can get hold of. In looking ahead to what kinds of projects Avatar Studios will do in the future, there's the pressing question of just which direction creators will explore that world in.
The best possible answer to that question is: all of them. Star Wars: Visions proved just how engaging and dynamic an episodic series could be that shifts its focus to completely different characters from one installment to the next, and Avatar Studios would do well to follow suit.
Star Wars became such a mega-successful franchise in part because of the richness and depth of the world the original trilogy established. Fans could never get enough, and properties like Star Wars: The Clone Wars proved how episodic insights into the lives of different characters could strengthen the world and ultimately carry the series. Star Wars: Visions took that narrative maneuverability to the next level by showing an even more diverse range of stories across thousands of years of the Galaxy's lore, conveying each one with a unique art style perfectly suited for the stories it told.
Thus far, the Avatar franchise has centered its tentpole properties around the adventures of the Avatar of different eras. Avatar: The Last Airbender followed Aang on his journey to defeat Ozai and end the Hundred Years War. The Legend of Korra saw Avatar Korra face a variety of challenges in an increasingly modernized era that constantly challenged the status quo. The Kyoshi novels delved into the past of the franchise centuries before Aang, where Avatar Kyoshi became the legend she would later be known as. However, as sweeping and grand as the epic tales of the world's most powerful bender prove to be, it's the more intimate and isolated successes along the way that truly shine.
Some of the most beloved episodes from the original series prove that point. "Zuko Alone" centered on Prince Zuko as a solo adventure, with the banished prince standing out as a unique Western-inspired tale remarkably different from other installments in the series. "Tales of Ba Sing Se" broke the mold even further by featuring bite-sized chunks of narrative centered on different members of the cast. By following the format that Star Wars: Visions proved can work, Avatar Studios could replicate those successes on a scale grander than ever seen before.
Avatar isn't a complete stranger to experimenting with its art style, either. The original series dipped its toe into different styles during "The Great Divide" and "The Cave of Two Lovers," and committed to radically different styles for the majority of two episodes with the "Beginnings" two-parter. In all cases, the differences in artwork helped not only convey flashbacks in a style tailored to the strengths of the story they conveyed, but also proved just how versatile the franchise could be. Star Wars: Visions proved similarly experimental, making it only natural that the samurai-inspired tale of two swordsmen facing off for a showdown required a totally different style from the misadventures of a rock band playing their first big performance.
Avatar fans would doubtless be excited for almost any direction the studio decides to head in, be that a brand new sequel story, delving into previously unseen Eras or fleshing out the stories of side characters who've received little attention thus far. However, that excitement would also necessarily be tempered by a certain disappointment if any single direction comes at the cost of others.
By adopting the Visions model, a unique opportunity to explore all directions manages to capture the best all possible worlds. Fans could see the formation of the White Lotus in one episode, learn what the Foggy Swamp waterbenders were doing in the Era of Korra during the next, then jump back to discover Combustion Man's origins in a third -- the possibilities are endless. With such an expansive and exciting world, there are really no wrong moves, but enjoying the freedom that Star Wars: Visions demonstrated might just be the best one.
