When Netflix announced that it was making a live-action adaptation of the amazing Avatar: The Last Airbender Series WITH the animated series original creators – well, the reaction was basically… bananas. Finally – the interwebs cried out – we will have something that washes away the stain that was M. Night Shymalan’s The Last Airbender. Unfortunately, in yet another hit by the year 2020, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino have announced they had “made the difficult decision to leave the production” blaming Netflix for not holding up their end of the bargain in being “committed to honoring [their] vision for this retelling and to supporting [them] on creating the series.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, DiMartino explained,

“When Bryan and I signed on to the project in 2018, we were hired as executive producers and showrunners. In a joint announcement for the series, Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped… And who knows? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.

Excerpt of DiMartino’s full statement posted on Facebook

Netflix responded with a statement saying, “We have complete respect and admiration for Michael and Bryan and the story that they created in the Avatar animated series. Although they have chosen to depart the live action project, we are confident in the creative team and their adaptation.”

Well, let’s see.