Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 Time Skip Addressed By EPs

Published Jun 3, 2026, 7:39 PM EDT

Executive producer Jabbar Raisani told Entertainment Weekly that this time jump needed to be built into Avatar: The Last Airbender to account for its younger actors looking noticeably older. Raisani specifically mentioned that Gordon Cormier, who plays Aang, “literally went up to my belly button” when they first met, and now Cormier towers over him. While it’s not stated how many months have specifically passed between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere, it’s nonetheless clear that a significant amount of time has passed.

In addition to this time jump accounting for how Aang and Kiawentiio’s Katara have refined their waterbending abilities, fellow executive producer Christine Boylan added that it also allows for certain events depicted in the original Avatar: The Last Airbender series to occur offscreen in this live-action continuity. As Boylan put it:

There are so many adventures that exist in the animated series that we couldn't put in the show. A lot of it falls in between seasons, and it can happen even in between episodes.

Aside from when younger actors’ voices deepen, aging usually isn’t a concern when it comes to animated projects. However, with a live-action series like Avatar: The Last Airbender, there’s no way to hide how Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley (Sokka), and Dallas Liu (Prince Zuko) have aged, whereas it wouldn’t be as much of a concern with their older co-stars, like Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Uncle Iroh) and Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai). With Cormier in particular, it would be a hard sell for him to experience a massive growth spurt in the aftermath of The Last Airbender season 1's ending.

This won’t be as much of a concern for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 3, a.k.a. the show’s final season. Netflix ordered seasons 2 and 3 at the same time, and they were subsequently shot back-to-back from September 2024 to November 2025. That’s not to say season 3 won’t feature a time jump either, but it would presumably be more for creative reasons rather than as a necessity.

Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 premieres Thursday, June 25, 2026, on Netflix. Among the things fans can look forward to are the introduction of Miya Chech as the earthbender Toph Beifong, as well as the young protagonists visiting Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom’s capital. Other actors appearing in season 2 include Chin Han, Rekha Sharma, Lily Gao, and Dichen Lachman. A season 3 release window hasn’t been revealed yet.