Nickelodeon kicked off San Diego Comic-Con 2025’s smorgasbord of animation panels and events this morning (July 24) with a celebration of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s 20th anniversary.
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| Avatar: Seven Havens | Nickelodeon |
Original voice cast members Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang), Jack DeSena (Sokka), Michaela Jill Murphy (Toph), Jennie Kwan (Suki), Dante Basco (Zuko) and Dee Bradley Baker (Appa), series composer Jeremy Zuckerman and creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino gathered in the San Diego Convention Center's Ballroom 20 to reflect on the show’s legacy and the future of the Avatarverse in a conversation moderated by Janet Varney, the voice of Korra in spin-off series The Legend of Korra. Roughly 5,000 fans packed the room, and were also treated to a video message from Mae Whitman, the voice of Katara, along with surprises and sneak peeks into the future of the Avatar-verse and tons of exciting tidbits for the audience.
First up was a tribute video honoring 20 years of Avatar fandom, spotlighting iconic moments from the series and tracing its journey from the Comic-Con pilot debut to the show’s rise as a cultural phenomenon. Mae Whitman (voice of Katara) shared a heartfelt video expressing her deep gratitude for being part of the Avatar-verse, reflecting on growing up with the show and her excitement to share it with her own child.
Fans in attendance were treated to a reunion of the original voice cast: Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang), Jack De Sena (Sokka), Michaela Jill Murphy (Toph), Jennie Kwan (Suki), Dante Basco (Zuko), and Dee Bradley Baker (Appa). The cast was joined by series composer Jeremy Zuckerman and creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, who also shared a deep dive into the 20-year legacy surrounding the beloved franchise.
One exciting reveal was a first-look image from the upcoming new Avatar animated series, Avatar: Seven Havens, which was announced by Avatar Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studios earlier this year.
The series, currently in production at Nickelodeon’s Burbank studio, will be split into two “Books,” each comprising 13 half-hour episodes. Seven Havens is created and executive produced by DiMartino & Konietzko, with Airbender universe veteran Ethan Spaulding as executive producer and Sehaj Sethi as co-executive producer.
Avatar: Seven Havens is set in a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm. A young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar, after Korra — but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse. The series takes place following the events of The Legend of Korra.
Featured in the new artwork is this new Earthbender, Pavi, along with her cat monkey, Geet, and her mentor Jae, who is an Airbender. In the distant background we see the city in which they live, Allura.
Avatar: Seven Havens is being produced under the Avatar Studios banner from Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank with Michael DiMartino (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra) and Bryan Konietzko (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra) serving as co-creators and executive producers.
Jeremy Zuckerman is reportedly returning to the franchise to score Avatar: Seven Havens.
"It's something totally different," Konietzko told the panel audience. "We like to change up the style. We like to make each project its own thing. As you can see, it still feels like Avatar, but the world is very different. You'll have to tune in to find out why."
Avatar: Seven Havens will be comprised of 26 episodes that will be split into two seasons, Book 1 and Book 1, both consisting of 13 30-minute episodes. No premiere date or casting information has been revealed yet.
Seven Havens isn’t the only Avatar project coming up. There’s also the feature film The Legend of Aang: The Last Avatar, which is coming to theaters on Oct. 9, 2026. The cast includes Eric Nam as Aang, Jessica Matten as Katara, Roman Zaragoza as Sokka, Dionne Quan as Toph, plus Steven Yeun and Dave Bautista as the mysterious villain.
If that wasn’t enough, the ATLA celebration offered live table reads from three of Varney’s favorite Avatar episodes: “The Serpent’s Pass / Appa’s Lost Days,” “The Western Air Temple” and “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang” with the original cast and creators bringing favorite scenes to life.
Zuckerman then headed up a show-stopping “Secret Tunnel” sing-along, featuring a video montage complete with scenes from various Avatar episodes and animated visuals.
Fans of the franchise can keep celebrating all weekend at Nickelodeon’s booth (#4113) on the convention floor. Experience the four elements–Water, Earth, Fire, and Air–through immersive activations, photo ops, and interactive booth activities, along with outdoor experiences.
From CBR:
'Are There Pirates?' Avatar Cast Teases Seven Havens' Peg Legged Protagonist & Setting
CBR spoke with the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra about the upcoming sequel series, Avatar: Seven Havens, at San Diego Comic Con 2025. Avatar: Seven Havens is one of many new projects currently in development by Nickelodeon that take place in the anime-inspired world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
CBR interviewed the main cast of The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra at San Diego Comic Con at the San Diego Convention Center in California. At the 20th anniversary panel for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Nickelodeon revealed the brand-new animated TV series, Avatar: Seven Havens, which chronologically takes place after the events of The Legend of Korra. In the interview, the cast discussed the new setting and characters of Seven Havens, which shares the series' familiar whimsy, but is set in a more dire environment.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast Tease New Details About Upcoming Sequel Series at SDCC 2025
This is the first visual look at the brand-new Avatar anime series by Nickelodeon, currently titled Avatar: Seven Havens, which features twin protagonists as heroes. Image via Nickelodeon
According to the cast, they weren't sure how much of Avatar: Seven Havens would be publicly revealed by Nickelodeon at San Diego Comic Con. However, they were told a visual of the show would be shared at the anniversary event. The first promotional visual of Avatar: Seven Havens features the new twin protagonists, who specialize in Earthbending, as they traverse a cataclysmic environment with their half-cat, half-lemur-like pet. The young girl is said to be the new Avatar, inheriting the title from Korra. However, the girl is viewed more as humanity's destruction than its savior in this new, ill-fated world.
Janet Varney, the voice of Korra and the moderator of the Avatar 20th anniversary panel, expressed her excitement over the new show. "Well, when Bryan [Konietzko] told me that we were going to be able to show an image from Seven Havens, that definitely was a huge deal," she said, "and I didn't even know necessarily that we were going to hear more, that we were going to hear character names, and that we were going to, of course, I'm the nerd that was like, 'I need to hear more about that hybrid animal.' And it's just such a beautiful thing, and Jennie [Kwan] was talking about this earlier, like the fact that it is, it is part of the universe, but it is its own beautiful new piece of art that they are so proud of, and that's, that's part of it. It's just knowing that it's going to be its own perfect thing."
Although only a short amount of time has passed since the first visual reveal of Avatar: Seven Havens, the original Avatar cast is well aware of all the fan theories spawned from the Comic Con reveal. For example, the mysterious crystals that inhabit the new environment, and the peg leg of the new Avatar -- making her the first disabled hero in the Avatar franchise. As one of the cast members jokes, "She has a peg leg! How did it happen? What's going on? Are there pirates?!"
At the moment, a release date for Avatar: Seven Havens has yet to be announced. The original Avatar series and The Legend of Korra are available on streaming services like Netflix and Paramount+. The description for The Last Airbender reads: "Siblings Katara and Sokka wake young Aang from a long hibernation and learn he's an Avatar, whose air-bending powers can defeat the evil Fire Nation."
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From CBR:
Avatar: The Last Airbender's Voice of Toph Reveals The Iconic Scene She Auditioned With
In a new interview with CBR at San Diego Comic Con, Toph voice actor Michaela Jill Murphy revealed the very first scene she auditioned for in Avatar: The Last Airbender. And it’s iconic. CBR recently sat down with Michaela Jill Murphy for a round-table interview at SDCC alongside her fellow ATLA costars to discuss the series.
Also in attendance at the Avatar panel were voice actors Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang), Jack DeSena (Sokka), Jennie Kwan (Suki), Dante Basco (Zuko), Janet Varney (Korra), and Avatar series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino. The group discussed their time with the series, and recalled fond memories they have of their time with the hit anime-inspired classic. During this discussion, Michella Jill Murphy went into how she first got the role of Toph as an 11-year-old actress just getting her start.
Toph Voice Actor Reveals The Epic ATLA Scene She Used to Audition For The Role
Michaela Jill Murphy told CBR during their discussion that the first scene she used to audition for the part of Toph in Avatar: The Last Airbender was her introductory fight against the Boulder. As she explained, “whenever I was sending this Toph stuff, it was just the blind bandit scene, just her against the boulder, but just that scene.” Murphy held a sarcastic tone when mentioning that it was “just the blind bandit scene”, because any Avatar fan knows just how major that moment was for her character.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph is first introduced as a mysterious blind arena fighter, who goes by the moniker “The Blind Bandit.” The first time Aang, Sokka and Katara encounter Toph, they bear witness to her duel against a hulking brute brawler known as The Boulder. As a prodigious master Earthbender, Toph easily disposes of the Boulder in seconds, a feat which leaves Aang’s party quite impressed. This being Michaela Jill Murphy’s very first introduction to the series is impressive, given the immediate confidence she brought to Toph’s character in that scene.
I auditioned so much better because I had a good script.
- Michaela Jill Murphy
As she further explained during the SDCC interview, Murphy approached the scene with a youthful excitement: “I just came in, and I was like, ‘heck yeah, let's beat this guy!’ and it worked.” At the time, Murphy was only around 11 years old, but despite her inexperience she felt her audition was largely carried by the series’ “good writing.” Murphy attributes the success of her performance as Toph to the series’ “good script”, explaining that “I auditioned so much better because I had a good script.”
Recently announced at SDCC was a brand-new Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel series titled Avatar: Seven Havens. The series will reportedly follow twin Earthbenders, one of whom is chosen to be the next Avatar. The sequel series' describtion reads: “A world shattered by a devastating cataclysm. A young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra – but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse.”
While there’s no release date for Avatar: Seven Havens, fans can still look forward to the release of the upcoming feature-length film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, coming to theaters on October 9, 2026.
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Originally published: July 24, 2025 at 23:47 BST.
Original sources: Animation Magazine, Variety, The Beat, Toonado.com, Film Music Reporter, Deadline.
