Comic-Con 2011: Avatar: The Legend of Korra Coverage and Panel

The head of Nickelodeon Animation, Roland Poindexter, if that really is his name, welcomed Comic-Con with a somewhat awkward "Goooooooood afternoon!"  The way-past-capacity crowd gave a reserved shout back, perhaps due to the (maybe) underestimated line outside.  But once he mentioned the phrase "Avatar: The Last Airbender" the place went nuts

The eager fans were here to learn anything, anything about the forthcoming Avatar: The Legend of Korra series.

Before show creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko came to the stage, a woman dressed as Korra stepped out to thunderous applause.  She is very much a woman of color, thank you very much M. Night Shyamalan.

All that bitterness evaporated once they said they were about to debut the trailer.

The Trailer

"Don't worry, we'll show it again at the end - we know there'll be a lot of screaming and stuff and you might miss something," Bryan added.

Here's what flashed by:
* Snow falling on a village.
* An island in the mist.
* A flying Sky Bison
* Junk ships sailing past a statue . . . is it a statue of Aang?
* Then a woman mounting a beat of some sort.  It is a woman, not a girl - she is Korra.  And she's a badass.
* Other shots included cityscapes across a modern-looking bridge, a large Taj Mahal-ish looking structure, flying bison in the sky, Korra bending water in front of Asian script (from the title sequence?) and a fight scene where Korra takes out two dudes in a 360 degree shot.
* Oh - and that beast Korra was mounting?  It was a Polar Bear-Dog.

There was no dialogue in the trailer - just music from the Track Team that absolutely echoes the music from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Without dialogue, I couldn't tell if any of the humor that existed in the first series will be in this one.  Unlike The Last Airbender, there are no "kids" in the footage that we saw, and so much of the humor of the first series came from that.

The producers said it was important that "the next Avatar" 70 years later must be totally different from Aang.

Next up was a display of art, showing the development of the characters. 

Korra and Crew

After some gag images of the show creators in Momo hats, we met Korra.

"She's gotta be tough, she's from the Water Tribe.  We wanted to make her look like a snow boarder.  She's rugged, unlike typical female superheroes."

The audience stayed in rapt silence as the pics were shown.  As they got more developed there was straight up gasping.

We saw a shot of her with her arms crossed - she definitely has an attitude and "womanly features."

Then we met her friends from a place called the United Republic, a city founded by Aang and Zuko meant to be a multicultural metropolis where people from all the Tribes live together.  (A 1920s jazz age Shanghai with industrial revolution-era colors.)

Mako is a handsome Asian man with some crazy sci-fi hair.  (Some of the original designs were so nuts the producers had to say "come on, this isn't Twilight.")  His clothes have a tendency to swoop behind him.  He is described as a somewhat brooding, Zuko-ish dude.  His brother Bolen, on the other hand, is a little goofier.  He almost looks like he could fit into the world of Archie Comics.

The Animals

Then the audience started to mass squeal when we saw Korra's main pet, a POLAR BEAR-DOG! It is regal and big, but playful like a dog.  And even goes up on its hind legs to beg for food.  Her name (it is a girl) is Naga.

First look at Korra with her polar bear dog, from Avatarthelastairbenderonline.com

Also a wormy-looking Red Panda/Black-Footed Ferrett called a Fire Ferret.

There will also be Sky Bison and Flying Lemurs in the show (but not too many Flying Lemurs in the first shows.)

While Korra is the reincarnation of Aang, Aang and Katara did have offspring.  Kenzen, an Airbender, is key to Korra's development, as Air is the last element for Korra to master.

Kenzen is married to Pemma, a blonde woman, and they have three kids:  Genora is a bookworm-y daughter, Ikki is a motor mouth daughter and Milo is a goofy boy who kinda looks like Aang.  (I may have the spelling wrong on these, but just go with it.)

The Baddies

Who are the baddies?  They are masked men of "The Revolution."  The main guy has henchmen of anti-benders called Chi-Blockers.  They obviously don't dig harmony, they don't dig bending and they want to take Korra down.

Also:  the Metalbender Cops.  They are the legacy of Toph.  They have a samurai look, but have metal cables coiled up on their back.  They are led by Toph's Daughter (!) and she is another sexy badass.  She is, essentially, the sheriff of Republic City.

Republic City and Jazz

In Republic City, there are Pro Bending leagues, and we saw some amazing concept art of the arena.  Very colorful, with lots of Asian influence. 

We then watched a martial arts reel from Sifu Kisu and MMA work from Mac Danzig and Jeremy Umphries, to remind us all that Avatar has its basis in some real world stuff and that I am out of shape.  Also some "tricking," which is basically Parkour without a building from Jake Huang and Steve Terada.

The Track Team described the music as 1920s New Orleans jazz but if it were invented in China.  I don't know what the hell that would sound like, but it sounds incredible.

The show looks nuts, and if the humor is there (I'm guessing from Kenzen's family), I am more than sold.  I love the idea of a utopian Republic City and the post-racial Chinese Jazz sounds fascinating.  The show can't come soon enough, but, alas, there is still no premiere date. 

"But it's coming.  It's like being on an airplane runway - there's nothing wrong with the plane, just waiting for our spot."