Last summer, we at Knight Edge Media brought you the first character details of a secret animated series in development at Avatar Studios under the working title Red Thunder. This new series will take place in a different era from their previously announced Avatar: Seven Havens series, most likely in the distant past. While the project was not officially announced or titled, Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creator Bryan Konietzko confirmed at SDCC 2026 that a show exists but will be fully revealed at a later date. The character descriptions from a casting call last summer were for a new teenage Water Tribe Avatar codename “Baroo” and his future chief of the Water Tribe friend “Meebs”. (These codenames are only for the casting call process and won’t be used in the final cut of the series.) The studio was looking for teenage Indigenous/First Nations actors for the role. It will most likely be complete unknowns, just like Avatar Pavi (played by Shaeli Khan) and Nisha (played by Aishu Devan) were in Seven Havens. Apparently, there were multiple rounds of casting for the roles of Meebs and Baroo in both 2024 and summer 2025 (see below).
We also learned that the antagonist of the series will be a female Water Tribe leader codename “Deela”. She will also be Meebs’ mother in this story. We have also exclusively learned that a high-profile Indigenous actress was in talks for the role. Interestingly, the role of Deela appeared only in the 2024 casting call, not in the 2025 one, which means the actress could have remained signed on throughout both casting processes. Paramount is high on this series, as they see the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise as more geared towards boys than girls, even though Seven Havens will feature twin female heroines. The loglines from both casting calls are only slightly different but tell the same premise:
2024 -“A teenager ventures into mysterious lands cursed by ice, only to discover his former teacher–and now hunter–is behind it all. Now he must break the curse and free the world, all while having a little chaotic fun along the way.”
2025 – “A rebellious teenager bucks thousands of years of tradition to go on globetrotting adventures, staying one step ahead of his angry teacher, rowdy pirates, and chaotic gremlins–all while helping the world in his own unique ways.”
From what we have learned, the main premise of the story is that it takes place during an Ice Age (possibly inspired by the on-hold AAA video game), with the Water Tribe as the villain nation. So what happens when an Avatar is born into an aggressive nation? While Avatar Roku comes to mind, he had to die for Firelord Sozin to wage war on the Air Nomads. Avatar Kyoshi also had to deal with Emperor Chin and the conquest of the Earth Kingdom. However, both Roku and Kyoshi were already adults by that time, not teenagers. The pilot has been done for a while, but the show hasn’t been fully picked up just yet.
Avatar: Red Thunder has no set release date
