>That love for exploring made-up universes is what Ehasz and collaborator Justin Richmond hope to take with them as co-founders of a new studio called Wonderstorm, with a goal of creating video games and expanded media simultaneously (along with co-founder Justin Santistevan, former head of finance for research and development at Riot, and investor MWM). Alongside a new game, which they are keeping under wraps for the time being, the team at Wonderstorm (considerably smaller than the likes of Naughty Dog or Riot Games) is working with Netflix to produce an original animated series set in the same world.
>“Writers and artists are literally working alongside designers and engineers, and we’re all engaged with these characters and this world,” Ehasz says. “It’s really a delightful situation. A lot of contributions are coming from corners you don’t expect.”
>“We both really wanted to go and make a thing where we could really control it 100 percent and deliver on that promise of trying to make something magical,” Richmond says. “So if we’re going to mess it up, it’d be entirely our fault.”
>“The thing I take away from Futurama and The Last Airbender is that the audience is very, very smart,” Ehasz says. “All the details, nuance, and things you build into a story and characters? There may be people who don’t appreciate it, but there are so many out there who do and are paying attention. We’re spending all this time on this series and game making sure those details feel right, and that there are things to discover, and that things beneath the surface are worth it because there are tons of people out there who want and deserve that. We need to make something good enough for them.”
Gavin Sanders
So... what is their new show about?
Hudson Sullivan
All they said is that it'll be related to a video game they're making too. It might have something to do with the art on their site.
Jason Cooper
Netflix sure has been announcing a lot of new projects this week.
Jaxon Jenkins
They making a video game ass video game or some mobile abomination?
Cameron Adams
Giancarlo Volpe is on this too
Chase Sanders
...
Landon Powell
Double sold
Liam Peterson
Definitely interested.
Ryan Cook
im cautiously optimistic
Brody Bell
Pity they had to poach him away from Star vs for this to happen, his absence in S3 has been noticeable.
Carson Bailey
So was he the real reason the show was good?
Oliver Young
That's what the fans say
Lincoln Ramirez
He seems to have been directly responsible for a lot of the things that are likable about ATLA, including almost everything with Toph, and more broadly Book 2: Earth, which a lot of fans think is the best season.
Dylan Sanchez
1 person has never been the reason a show or movie is good.
Oliver Ross
There is no "real reason" it was a collaboration.
You can't apply auteur theory to ATLA, which makes nerds mad because they want one person to praise and then throw everyone else in the trash. But it didn't work that way.
Bentley Evans
Still, things can end up being a lot worse without one person's critical contributions.
Michael Ross
Ehasz wasn't perfect. From what I hear he wanted Zutara to be canon and thought there should be other airbenders that survived along with Aang. He and Bryke canceling out each other's shitty ideas was what made ATLA great.
Andrew Miller
Yeah. We have no idea what any of this actually is, and creating both a tv show and a cartoon about one IP before either is released really sounds like putting all your eggs in one basket.
Joseph Wood
He had some sort of falling out with Bryke.
Grayson Roberts
So the people that made Avatar good might be behind this? Ok, I might check it out.
Benjamin Fisher
I mean, neither of those ideas are inherently bad. I mean, let's be honest, it'd be pretty weird if all the Air Nomads were in the Temples at the time of Sozin's Comet. Because you know, nomads are nomadic. On the other hand, the show would probably need to be completely rewritten for Zutara to work, but I assume he suggested the idea relatively early on and just never let it go. But I've always been rather neutral on the whole Zutara thing because I don't think any of the romantic relationships in ATLA were handled all that great except maybe Sokka and Suki, so whatever.
Dominic Butler
>“The thing I take away from Futurama and The Last Airbender is that the audience is very, very smart,” Ehasz says. “All the details, nuance, and things you build into a story and characters? There may be people who don’t appreciate it, but there are so many out there who do and are paying attention. We’re spending all this time on this series and game making sure those details feel right, and that there are things to discover, and that things beneath the surface are worth it because there are tons of people out there who want and deserve that. We need to make something good enough for them.”
What he means is that he wants to cultivate and nurture a fandom
Jason Smith
But adding more Airbenders outside of Aang completely eliminates the stakes of the Avatar cycle being broken.
Evan Bennett
I mean, not really? It would still break if he died in the Avatar State. Also, if Aang died, it wouldn't really matter if the Avatar existed or not. The Earth Kingdom would be under complete Fire Nation control before the next Avatar would be able to hold their own head up.
Oliver Robinson
So what is this going to be? Netflix's version of Defiance? I am already expecting this to fail.
Owen Turner
interest piqued
Samuel King
Video games AND "expanded media" seems like a pretty high bar to meet, especially for a new studio.