‘Avatar: Seven Havens’ Renewed for Two More Seasons, ‘Avatar Kuruk: Wave of Chaos’ Series Announced at NYCC

Paramount+’s Avatar universe is expanding, with Avatar: Seven Havens earning a two-season renewal, alongside the announcement of a new series, Avatar Kuruk: Wave of Chaos. Wave of Chaos was described as the Avatar universe’s first action comedy, and follows a 14-year-old Kuruk during a time of peace.

The news came as part of the Avatar: Seven Havens panel at New York Comic Con on Friday morning, which coincided with the series’ Friday drop on Paramount+. From co-creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: Seven Havens is the latest chapter in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe, set in a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm. It follows the newest Avatar, a young Earthbender who takes over from former Avatar Korra (Legend of Korra).

Along with the series renewal — which means the latest chapter in the Avatar universe will continue on for Books 3 and 4 — and new show announcement, an Avatar: Seven Havens podcast is also coming alongside a Seven Havens expansion for Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game. The game will soon feature Seven Havens in-game character colorways and Sonam’s temple stage, while the podcast will feature conversations with the show’s cast and creators. An artbook and novelization of the Avatar Aang film will also release Nov. 10, with more new music and books — including a new Legend of Korra book, The Long Game, which will go into the origin of the Red Lotus — also among the upcoming releases.

During the panel, which featured cast members Saheli Khan (“Pavi”), Aishu Devan (“Nisha”) and Major Curda (“Jae”), Seven Havens producers Bryan Konietzko, Ethan Spaulding and Sehaj Sethi discussed expanding the universe and thematic conflicts they are intentionally engaging in with this latest installment. In terms of what fans should expect, the look went for a very intentional old-school ‘70s anime style that is also more serialized than previous entries in the franchise.

According to the creative team, Seven Havens was an opportunity to evolve what has already existed in the universe. “Some ideas are really old ideas from the Avatar days that wove their way into this,” said Konietzko. “We are excited to see where the Avatar world can go into the future and visit a new Avatar, a different version of the world.

“What interested me the most was that they were so willing to evolve everything. That they were really interested in saying, we told these two different stories; what’s the next iteration? What takes us even further?” said Sethi. “It was really exciting to me that we weren’t just repeating… we were going to tell a whole new story.”

“What I really wanted to bring to this was this idea that there’s so much gray area to everything, to every storyline, to everything that you see. I remember telling them in my first meeting, ‘I want people to finish an episode and look at each other and they can argue two different sides. This is why I believe this person’s right, and the other person [can say this is] why I believe an entirely different thing,’” she continued. “There are no villains in the story. There are protagonists and antagonists. Everyone has a side and a point of view. I wanted to show the complexity of different ways of looking at things.”

During the panel, which featured footage, animatics and various kinds of series art, there was also discussion of how the series approached its new Avatars, orphan Pavi and her long-lost twin sister Nisha, with the producers working with the show’s board artists and directors to “really emphasize her expressions” and maintain the understanding of the Avatar’s young age.

Later in the discussion, the show also briefly touched on its Southeast Asian and LGBTQ+ representation. “There has been some wonderful queer representation in Avatar Legends and some of the graphic novels. But it’s really exciting because of how it’s not a huge deal,” voice actor Curda told the packed Main Stage panel, while speaking to the show’s canon gay relationship. “Jae is a character. Here is this new character Datu (Topher Ngo) they’re boyfriend. It’s just such a wonderful exemplification of love is love.”