Netflix announces 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' live-action series

Netflix has announced it will be producing a live-action version of the popular Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The streaming giant announced the news via Twitter along with concept art by John Staub.

The concept art depicts the protagonist Aang with Appa, his six-legged flying bison who Aang and his friends ride as they travel around the world on their quest.

"This is what we've been training for all these years," Netflix tweeted.

The animated series which debuted in 2005, told the story of Aang and his friends, who have to save the world by battling Fire Lord Ozai to end the war with the Fire Nation.

Airing for three seasons, the series won an Emmy in 2017 and a Peabody Award among other honors. 

Original series co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have both signed on to oversee the show. 

In a joint post released by DiMartino and Konietzko, the duo said, the new version of the story will feature characters of color, unlike director M Night Shyamalan's 2010 film The Last Airbender.

"We can't wait to realize Aang's world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast," DiMartino and Konietzko said. 

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone's great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building," the duo added.

Production will begin in 2019.