Next year sees the 15th anniversary of the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the greatest animated shows of the 21st century, and Nickelodeon is celebrating in style with a new steelbook collection of the entire series. Said series is being wrapped in some truly beautiful new artwork—and Gizmodo has a new look.
While we’ve already seen Caleb Thomas’ incredible triptych of Aang magically bending the elements that will grace the cover of each steelbook in the Blu-ray collection, Gizmodo can reveal the artwork Thomas designed for each book that will be found on the back of each entry in the series. While the front covers celebrate Aang’s use of each element, the rear designs reflect some of the benders that helped him along his journey to become the ultimate master over bending.
On the rear of Book One: Water, we of course have Aang’s constant companion Katara, who was practically with him from the get-go alongside Sokka. On Book Two: Earth, we appropriately have the playful teacher of both Aang and Korra in the art of Earthbending, Toph. Lastly, on Book Three: Fire, we actually have Aang once again—but this time in his full Avatar mode, his tattoo and eyes lit up with bright light as he wields the power of water, earth, and fire.
While it’s cool that the front covers give you a nice connected set to show off Aang’s skills, it’s nice to see Thomas put the focus on some of the most important people in his life for these backside art pieces.
As well as collecting all three seasons of The Last Airbender, the collection—which isn’t the first time the series has been on Blu-ray of course, just the first it’s been collected in fancy steelbook format—also comes jam-packed with special features, including behind-the-scenes featurettes, animated shorts, audio commentary from the cast and crew that brought Aang’s journey to life, and even bonuses like the original pilot for the show, and an animated version of the Escape from the Spirit World online game that bridged the gap between the second and third seasons.
The 15th anniversary edition of Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Series will be released in the U.S. on February 18, 2020. Details of a localised Australian release are so far unconfirmed.