This looks like this should have been a big year for Nickelodeon‘s Avatar franchise. For one, they garnered a lot of buzz with their Avatar Legends fighting game as it looks really good. But the biggest reason why this should have been a stellar time for the franchise was The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender is going to be released later this year. This wasn’t going to be a new story like The Legend of Korra was and Avatar: Seven Havens is slated to be.

No, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender is all about the original heroes from Avatar: The Last Airbender that Nickelodeon made so many years ago. All of the characters are much older but they go on one more adventure. This was supposed to be a glorious reunion for Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko as well as fans who loved the series and wanted to see what happened to these characters after Ozai and the Fire Nation were defeated.

“Was” seems like the operative word because, as of right now, all of the buzz around The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender seems to be negative. Not because of the quality of the movie. No, it’s because Paramount, the company that owns Nickelodeon and, in turn, the Avatar franchise, totally messed up when it comes to what to do with the movie.

Originally, Paramount announced that the The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender was going to get a theatrical release. This got fans excited as the only big screen release we got from the franchise was the god-awful live-action version. Additionally, this was also going to be made by the newly formed Avatar Studios with the same people who developed the animated series, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I guess both of them were fed up by other people mucking up their baby, like with what Netflix did with their own live-action series. So, so far, everything was looking great. We were getting a theatrical release of the film and the people behind the original series. What could go wrong?

Then, like the Fire Nation, everything changed when Paramount attacked. All of a sudden, Paramount changed their plans. They weren’t going to release The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender on the silver screen anymore. They switched things up so that it was going to be a Paramount+ exclusive.

This really upset a lot of fans, including myself. You see, I’m in the Philippines and, guess what? We don’t have Paramount+ in my country! And I know a lot of Avatar fans in the Philippines! So, Paramount pretty much excluded a lot of the fanbase with this decision! A part of me did play devil’s advocate and started to think maybe the higher ups at Paramount took a look at the movie and thought the quality wasn’t that good. Maybe the movie was bad and they didn’t want to get stuck with releasing a movie into theaters when they knew it was going to be bad. So, the best move would be to stick it in their streaming service. Make sense, right?

The the leak happened.

Somehow, someone outside of Paramount and Nickelodeon got a hold of the movie. Not a screener copy. Not an unfinished version with storyboards filling in the gaps. This was the entire movie. Soon after, the entire movie was leaked and made available to download on *ahem* illegitimate websites. The full movie will also pop up on some lesser known streaming site like DailyMotion. Sure, they’ll try to take them down as fast as people will put it up. But, if you’re really determined, you can absolutely find it readily available.

The details on how the film got leaked is still pretty sketchy. Initially, the person who leaked it online said the entire movie was emailed to them. Further investigation into the incident does say it was a targeted hack. Anyway, the alledged hacker has been arrested but the damage has been done. The movie is now out in the public and is available for people with some Internet know-how to watch.

Now, remember when I said maybe Paramount pulled the the film from a theatrical release because it might look bad? Well, it doesn’t! I haven’t watched the entire movie out of respect for the people who toiled and worked on the film as well as those who have worked on the series. But I will admit, I was curious. Did it really look bad and that’s why Paramount wanted it to go direct to streaming?

The simple answer: No. Not in the least. I’d even have to say The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender puts a lot of animated movies to shame as practically everything is hand drawn. Sure, you can kind of tell that the backgrounds were computer generated but they blend practically seamlessly with the 2D cel animation. Why the heck would Paramount lock this behind their streaming service then?

I can only assume it’s because Paramount wants Paramount+ to get a win. I mean, Paramount+ isn’t really known for being something of a “must-have” streaming service. They pull in decent numbers but, when you compare it to Netflix, Disney+ or HBO Max, Paramount+ isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. But they know Avatar is really big right now. So they made the decision to put The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender into Paramount+ as an exclusive so, if you really want to watch it, you have to get Paramount+!

While I understand the math, this was a really bonehead decision! Like I said earlier, Paramount+ isn’t available everywhere. But you know what’s everywhere still? Movie theaters! And Avatar is a global brand! The movie looks gorgeous so locking it behind a streaming service that not everyone can enjoy is just dumb! Now, with the way things are, there really isn’t a reason to watch it on Paramount+ because we can already see it on our TVs and computer screens because of the leak!

I do think there is a way to salvage all of this and it’s pretty simple. All Paramount has to do is go with their original plan and release The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender theatrically. Some of you might think this is stupid because it’s already out there. But there is a difference between seeing a movie on your TV and seeing it in a movie theater along with other fans. I bet fans, even if they did watch the film via the leak, will still go see it to support the people who put their blood, sweat and tears into making the movie. They don’t want to support Paramount. They want to support the poeple behind Avatar. Those two are not the same. The problem is they already pulled it from a theatrical release and it’s not easy because of release schedules and all that. So, unfortunately, that ship has sailed.

In the end, I will wait for the official release of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and then just boot up my downloaded copy of the film. After all, that’s the only way I can experience it and I don’t feel like supporting Paramount after this entire debacle.

What’s your take on The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender being locked behind Paramount+ and the entire leak situation? Let me know in the comments section below!