The Legend of Korra

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Avatar: Legend of Korra is an upcoming television mini-series set in the Avatar universe as a spin-off of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is currently under development, and is expected to run for 12 episodes from November 2011. The co-creators of the original series, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are confirmed to be involved. The pair will personally write all of the episodes to allow for a tighter storyline.

The new series will take place 75 years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender story arc, with all-new characters and settings. The protagonist of the new series, Korra, the next Avatar after Aang, is a rebellious girl from the Southern Water Tribe who is hotheaded, independent and "ready to take on the world". The series plans to follow Korra as she faces an anti-bender revolt while mastering the art of Airbending from Aang and Katara's son, Tenzin.

Storyline
Korra is a rebellious girl from the Southern Water Tribe. As the Avatar, she has already mastered Waterbending, Earthbending, and Firebending. She will learn Airbending from Aang and Katara's son Tenzin. The primary and only confirmed setting is Republic City, a "metropolis powered by steampunk-type technology", "inhabited by people from all four nations". There are Anti-Benders in Republic City, who are strongly against the art of bending. Here Korra must deal with rampant crime and an anti-bender revolt.

Development
Although the creators of the show had planned an ending to the show, the success of Avatar: The Last Airbender caused Nickelodeon to ask for more episodes. The creators then came up with an idea of the next Avatar, this time a girl named Korra. They decided upon a female Avatar after the large audience of females of the original show and the adoration of headstrong Katara by the female fan base, and felt it was time to have a big action franchise with a female in the lead instead of the traditional male role.

The title for the new mini-series was trademarked by Nickelodeon in May 2010 and leaked by the media shortly afterward; more information was revealed in late June 2010, just prior to the release of the feature film The Last Airbender. The new show was officially announced at the San Diego Comic Con on July 22, 2010. The show is expected to be darker and more mature than the original show; however, the creators are not attempting to target a new audience, intending to balance mature themes with a sense of fun and adventure.



The mini-series will be set in an all-new setting. Mike and Bryan have said that the world of Avatar has "definitely changed, and evolved, and advanced, but we're very conscious of keeping the same feeling. Not totally different, but it's definitely generations later." Republic City is intended to be the only major location, in order to avoid repeating the around-the-world adventures seen in the original series.

From April 2010, Nickelodeon began to hire staff for the production for Avatar: Legend of Korra. Many former crew members for the original series are returning for the sequel. Sifu Kisu, the martial art instructor and consultant for the original series, is returning. Other personnel from the original series returning for the sequel include Joaquim Dos Santos, Ki Hyun Ryu, and JM Animation. Ki Hyun Ryu was a character designer, and JM animation was one of the two Korean Animation Studios for the original series.

Voices for the mini-series have been cast, and recording is ongoing. In an interview with Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of Momo and Appa on Avatar: The Last Airbender, confirmed that he has returned for a voice of another creature on the upcoming show, Avatar: Legend of Korra, and that his daughters auditioned for a flashback scene to play five-year old Korra, and one of them received the part. Dante Basco has stated that he will return to voice a character. He confirmed via Twitter that his role will have something to do with Zuko, and that one of the new episodes will be entitled "Skeleton in the Closet." Rob Paulsen of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain fame announced via Twitter that he will be joined on set with the legendary Eva Marie-Saint.

Music
Jeremy Zuckerman of The Track Team has said he will 'absolutely' return to compose the music for the show during a panel at Comic-Con 2010. However, he has not yet started working on the series, so no music for the series has been produced as of yet. However, the Track Team has said that the music will be "the Roaring '20s with an Asian twist."

Line Test Video
A recently leaked video shows what appears to be an unfinished line test from a scene in the upcoming series (screenshot located directly to the right of this section). In this 9-second clip, we see what looks to be Korra fighting two opponents without the use of bending. Actually, she demonstrates various forms and fighting styles that resemble techniques from several bending arts.

In the first panel, Korra is setting up a move that was used several times in Waterbending, specifically a form that involves the turning of an opponent's force against them. Korra uses this form to block herself from her first opponent's attacks, then uses it to destabilize him, allowing her to effectively overwhelm him with a series of jabs and punches aimed at the chest and head. She then transitions into a rooted stance seen in the second panel to finish him off, which is quite similar to the stances used by Earthbenders prior and during the performance of a move. A second opponent charges immediately following the first opponent's defeat, and Korra continues to use earth-based forms to counter his attacks. We see in the third panel that Korra directs an upward kick towards her opponent's face in order to stun him. This kick is the same move used by Earthbenders to lift boulders, as well as the same form used by Firebenders to create blazing rings and arcs of fire. Another Firebending-inspired move is seen in the fourth panel, where we see Korra utilizing a move similar to the one Zuko used to throw Azula off her balance during their Agni Kai.

This clip has not been confirmed to be legitimate, although the fact that it originated in Korean studios and that it bears striking similarities to the concept designs used in the first series suggests that this is a reliable clip.

Other Rumors
These storyline elements remain unconfirmed.
 * The series could continue for more than 12 episodes if it gained enough popular support.
 * This happened with Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was scheduled for 13 episodes at first but continued for 61.
 * Korra could be descended from Sokka and Suki.
 * Aang is featured in the series in the Spirit World, as Roku and past Avatars were to Aang in the Last Airbender.
 * This seems likely because Aang commented that no-one except a previous Avatar can really teach, or at least offer guidance to, the current Avatar about their duties beyond bending. This reinforced an earlier statement from Gyatso to Aang that once Aang could enter the Air Temple Sanctuary he would meet someone who would help him become a better Avatar, when he finally entered the Sanctuary it contained only statues of all the previous Avatars.
 * If Aang's own experiences are any guide, Aang would seem the most likely past Avatar to speak to Korra. Aang immediately felt a strong connection with a statue of Roku, instinctively knowing Roku's name and that Roku was his previous self, and Roku appeared to Aang more regularly then any other of his previous selves.
 * Furthermore, being the most recent Avatar before Korra, Aang's life and wisdom would be the most helpful to Korra, due to the fact that the times during which they maintain balance are not far apart, and are in fact right next to each other on the timeline.
 * There is also a rumor that there will be flashbacks of the original series. This may be part of what was implied when DiMartino mentioned that there was a "definite link" between the old series and this one.
 * Flashbacks in the new series may pertain to what the group did after The War, such as Zuko searching for his mother, the rebuilding of the Air Temples, the newly rebuilt Southern Water Tribe, if Kuei was restored to his throne, and Ba Sing Se after the Order of the White Lotus saved it from the Fire Nation.
 * Flashbacks may also give insight on the development of Republic City, since a metropolis so large had to gain more people in more than 75 years.
 * Republic City may have been a smaller nation in the original Avatar series.
 * During the original no mention was made of a nation other then the traditional four.
 * It is possible the physical city existed during the original series, perhaps with a different name and as part of another nation, and has grown in the 75 years since.
 * However nothing about the city's history has been confirmed.
 * Andrea Romano, the voice casting director of Avatar: The Last Airbender and presently working on Avatar: The Legend of Korra, has stated that the generation of the original cast of characters has died off and will not be in the show. However she has not ruled out the possibility that previous characters may appear in flashbacks.
 * She also stated that the show takes place 75 years into the future.
 * As mentioned, the Cabbage Merchant will not appear but "his legacy will be present in some form." It is not yet known how, but perhaps a merchant of another product will keep running into Korra in a similar fashion as the Cabbage Merchant kept running into Team Avatar.