This week, the first three episodes of "Avatar: Seven Havens" officially premiered, bringing the powers of the four elements—air, water, fire, and earth—back into the spotlight. Set after the timelines of both "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra," this sequel follows twin Avatars, Pavu and Nisha. As Korra's successors, they inherit the legacy of the mysterious "Great Cataclysm" allegedly triggered by Korra, an event that left a profound mark on the Avatar lineage.
So far, the most discussed aspect of the new series is its significantly different animation style compared to the previous two installments. GamesRadar+ interviewed IP co-creator Bryan Konietzko and executive producer Ethan Spaulding to uncover the reasons behind this stylistic shift.
Konietzko explained, "I've known Ethan for many years; he's truly an expert in 70s and 80s animation. His knowledge of vintage Japanese film and TV content far exceeds ours. My own nostalgia doesn't go back quite that far—it's more aligned with works from the 'Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water' era. We wanted this new series to have a stronger sense of fantasy, capturing the unique charm of retro animation."
Spaulding stated that the team decided from the very beginning to create a completely different visual identity for this new chapter. The executive producer revealed, "When they approached me to join the project, I was drawn to their bold idea of breaking away from the previous art style framework. So I feel this series has greater expressive power in its animation than its predecessors. Right from the start, Bryan suggested that characters could be rendered with flat colors without shadow layers. The core concept was to make the colors brighter and the overall tone less dark compared to the other series."
How the new art style will serve Pavu and Nisha's adventure, and what impact it might have on the potential appearances of Aang or Korra, remains to be seen as the story unfolds. Viewers can currently follow updates for "Avatar: Seven Havens" on Paramount+.