Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender united in celebration over the announcement of Avatar Studios, a division of Paramount headed by the series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. As the celebrations eased down and the news sunk in, fans began to speculate on what direction the world of Avatar would take, wondering if the studio would focus on sequels or prequels.
With the original series debuting over a decade and a half ago before completing in 2008, its popularity has only grown in the days since. The franchise continued to explore all possible options as it expanded the fascinating fantasy world that enraptured fans' imaginations, with the sequel series The Legend of Korra only representing the most prominent tip of the iceberg. Everything from comics to novels delved into the world in both directions, advancing the story of the Avatars and their friends, while exploring their pasts and the fantasy world's history.
Even The Legend of Korra itself would verge into prequel territory, with Season 2's "Beginnings" winding the clock all the way back to the first Avatar, who lived before the four nations were even established. With a whole studio dedicated to the world of Avatar, different characters and aspects of the universe can be explored, especially since fans have varying interests in the property, with some longing to know more about the past, while others want to see new adventures with established characters. Since the two main series themselves take part in different time periods, the question of whether to do a sequel or a prequel is itself not even so clear cut.
While seeing Aang and his friends go on new adventures as young adults is interesting, it wouldn't technically be a true sequel. It advances the original series, but it'd be set before The Legend of Korra. Any story set between the two series would also be the most restricted in terms of its creative freedom, bound between the canon of these titles, so fans hoping to re-bottle the lightning of a fresh Avatar may want to look at a different era separate from Aang's or Korra's, giving the show more of a blank slate, but even therein lies the difficult decision between a sequel and a prequel.
On one hand, a sequel series could pick up with a new Avatar after Korra, advancing the world of Avatar to unexplored lengths with the progression of technology and society. Such a decision could be the riskiest option available, especially considering that Korra was not as universally beloved as The Last Airbender. However, Korra still has an audience, and the series expanded the world of Avatar greatly, which a sequel could continue to do.
In the other direction, some fans hope to explore the adventures of a different Avatar prior to the two who already served as protagonists. Such options could include Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, Szeto or Wan, with each of the aforementioned Avatars varying in familiarity amongst fans. There are even thousands of years of history between Szeto and Wan with unnamed Avatars, so the possibilities are endless in terms of prequels.
It is in this latter direction that the fandom holds its best hope. The world of Avatar as it stands is simultaneously so richly detailed and rife for exploration that fleshing out the history already within the world has all the possible benefits of a new story without as many risks. Far from alienating fans or detracting from the aesthetic and thematics of the world audience already adore, exploring the lives of past Avatars empowers creators to build on a firm foundation that already exists. Be it an adaptation of the Kyoshi novels or an altogether unrevealed Avatar's life, it's the past that should make up Avatar's future.