Netflix has responded to the announcement that Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have left the streamer's live-action adaptation over creative differences.
"We have complete respect and admiration for Michael and Bryan and the story that they created in the Avatar animated series," a statement from a Netflix spokesperson reads. "Although they have chosen to depart the live action project, we are confident in the creative team and their adaptation."
CBR has also learned the friction leading to the pair's departure is not a recent development. Creative differences between Avatar's creators, Netflix and others involved in the live-action adaptation have reportedly occurred throughout the two-year development process.
Despite the departure of DiMartino and Konietzko, Nickelodeon, Netflix, producer Dan Lin and his team at Rideback are continuing to work on the series.
Earlier today, DiMartino announced he and Konietzko had exited the Netflix live-action adaptation in a post to his Facebook account. "Whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make," DiMartino posted on his Facebook page.
In the hours since DiMartino's announcement, there has been much fan concern over the Avatar series losing him and Konietzko, the two creators responsible for the original animated series. The pair have spent the last several years working to expand the universe they created in comics, which have been well received by the franchise's fanbase. M. Night Shyamalan directed a live-action Avatar feature film in 2010 that was met with criticism from audiences and critics alike, and much of the goodwill the Netflix series has had since it was announced was due to Avatar's creators being intrinsically involved in its development.