Avatar: Footage From Paramount's Aang Movie Leaks Online

It's a tough time to be a fan of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." First, the Netflix live-action adaptation left a lot to be desired. Then, Paramount announced that the upcoming feature-length animated sequel to the beloved cartoon, titled "Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender," will be skipping theaters and going straight to streaming.

Now, another tragedy has struck the "Avatar" franchise (no, not that one). Over the weekend, a Twitter user claimed they were accidentally sent the entire "Aang, The Last Airbender" film via email. To prove it, they posted two whole clips from the unreleased feature. Because Paramount has not released even a single official image, there was no way for fans to know whether the clips were real or not, but the leaked videos racked up a considerable number of views. The user even threatened to livestream the entire film if Paramount didn't release a trailer within the next couple of days.

Though the clips have since been taken down from X/Twitter, the damage is done. This situation illustrates the continuing and increasing lack of security and moderation on Twitter. What's more, the clips not only revealed the new art style for the film, and the new voice actors for Zuko and the main Gaang (as in Avatar gang), but they even show what appear to be crucial plot moments and reveal the characters played by Dave Bautista and Taika Waititi.

Paramount hasn't yet released a statement. Still, this undoubtedly isn't good news for a film the studio has purposely kept hidden from audiences — despite its release being less than six months away.

Back in 2021, Nickelodeon announced the creation of Avatar Studios, dedicated exclusively to expanding the universe of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The network brought back Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original creators of the show, to develop a proper franchise out of their cartoon. "Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender" is but the first chapter in what's expected to be a trilogy, while also developing more animated series, films, and even video games set in the "Avatar" universe.

So far, only "Aang, The Last Airbender" has been produced, though Nickelodeon also announced a new post-apocalyptic sequel series titled "Avatar: Seven Havens," expected to come out in 2027.

Though the initial announcement was met with quite a lot of enthusiasm from fans — a sign that Nickelodeon was betting on "Avatar" becoming a Marvel-type franchise for them — things have changed. The total lack of promotion for "Aang, The Last Airbender" is definitely strange considering the movie is set to be released on October 9, 2026. Then, the announcement that the film would skip theaters and go straight to Paramount+ seemed to indicate Nickelodeon and Paramount are reconsidering their investment in this franchise.

Under David Ellison, Paramount has been butchering its animation legacy, canceling even new iterations of iconic and once-thought-to-be-eternal franchises like "Dora the Explorer" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." This is to say, "Aang, The Last Airbender" needs to prove itself a massive hit for Paramount to continue expanding this universe, and anything that stands in the way of that is bad news for fans. That clips of the movie leaked months ahead of release, before any official promotional material, does not bode well.