Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most popular cartoons, known for its unique and subversive storytelling packed with plenty of emotions. However, the series lasted only three seasons and 61 episodes, ending its run on Nickelodeon in 2008. Nonetheless, fans have always pondered about what could have been a potential fourth season of the hit show.
Aaron Ehasz, a head writer on the series, has dropped some major bombshells regarding the show’s short lifespan and abandoned plans for a prospective fourth season. Ehasz has claimed that M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the beloved source material was indirectly responsible for the show’s cancellation. Here is what Ehasz said about Avatar: The Last Airbender and its canceled fourth season.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Writer Reveals How the M. Night Shyamalan Film Was Responsible For the Show’s End
Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s three-season run on air was critically acclaimed and the franchise it spawned continues to receive fanfare to this day. However, one of the dark marks in the franchise’s history is the 2010 live-action film The Last Airbender directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film was critically panned and bombed at the box office.
As if that wasn’t enough, head writer Aaron Ehasz stated in 2019 that the film was responsible for the show ending after just three seasons. In an extensive thread on X (formerly Twitter), Ehasz revealed that the plans for a fourth season were dropped so that creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko could assist Shyamalan with the movie.
Truthfully, there was a moment in time when we all thought we would do a 4th season of #AvatartheLastAirbender. Then along came M. Night…
— aaron ehasz (@aaronehasz) April 2, 2019
At the same time, Ehasz added that Shyamalan wanted the duo to make a fourth season of the show but they chose to work on the film. However, in a 2019 interview with Den of Geek, Ehasz clarified his comments by stating he was asked to think about a potential fourth season while season 3 approached its conclusion.
“In my mind, I was always thinking this was going to be a four-season arc. Mike and Bryan’s initial plan was three seasons, but there was a period where they were open to the possibility of a fourth season.”
Ehasz revealed that he was asked to serve as a showrunner for the fourth season until plans were interrupted, yet again implying that the Shyamalan-directed film was likely responsible for those plans getting scrapped. He added that the fourth season would have focused more on Azula and Zuko, suggesting a redemption arc for the former.
Will Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 4 Ever Happen?
In a 2020 interview with Polygon, DiMartino and Konietzko seemingly refuted Ehasz’s claims that the series ended abruptly because of the live-action film. Konietzko made the following statement regarding the alleged plans for season 4:
“There was never going to be a season 4, not from us and not from Nickelodeon. Mike and I planned ATLA to be a three-season arc as far back as our initial pitch in 2002, and in 2008 we finished the story we set out to tell.”
However, the duo eventually worked with writer Gene Luen Yang to publish a series of graphic novels that continue the original show’s story beyond the third season. In the same interview, DiMartino also provided hope for more stories set in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe.
In 2022, it was announced that DiMartino and Konietzko would be working on a new trilogy of animated films set shortly after the events of the original series. As a result, it seems like there will not be a fourth season of the hit series but the universe will continue to expand in fun and interesting ways. Recently, Netflix also renewed the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender for two more seasons.
Both Avatar: The Last Airbender animated and live-action are streaming on Netflix with the former also available on Paramount+.
