Per early numbers from the streaming platform, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation is an Appa-sized hit, notching 21.2 million “views” in its first four days of availability. That was also good enough to make it the most-watched title on Netflix during the week of February 19-25.
Streaming viewership numbers can be a little hard to parse these days, but to put that number into context, that puts Avatar’s debut about 13% above Netflix’s recent adaptation of One Piece, which opened to 18.5 million “views” over its first four days back in September.
Netflix has been more transparent with viewership numbers over the past year or so, with that “views” metric essentially being determined by the number of hours viewed divided by the total runtime of a film or episode.
Will It Lead to a Second Season?
And taking all of that into context, it bodes well for those hoping for a second season of this live-action version of The Last Airbender. Netflix announced about a week after One Piece’s debut that those numbers were enough to score it a second season, which is currently in development.
Neither Netflix nor the creative team have shared any news about a potential second installment yet, and the streaming platform is likely monitoring how those viewership numbers hold, along with fan sentiment, before making an official call. Another one of Netflix’s live-action adaptations, Cowboy Bebop, was canceled shortly after its widely derided first season back in 2021.
Still, last year’s One Piece helped restore some hope into the growing genre of live-action anime adaptations, being largely embraced by the fans. Reviews and reaction to The Last Airbender have been mixed but, unlike Cowboy Bebop, not wholly negative. IGN gave the first season a 7/10, with Joshua Yehl writing that it “enriches the original story with meaningful new material, but its breakneck pacing, exposition-heavy dialogue, and hit-or-miss effects aren’t precisely in balance.”
For a whole lot more on Avatar: The Last Airbender, check out my digital cover that breaks down my visit to the set, as well as my full interview with showrunner Albert Kim and executive producer/director/VFX supervisor Jabbar Raisani.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
