James Cameron's Avatar and Avatar: The Last Airbender's titles have long been a source of confusion for fans. When talking about the latter, fans often shorten it to just Avatar, which causes several misunderstandings across the internet. According to Giancarlo Volpe, who worked on the animated show, that title confusion goes back much longer than fans realize.Cameron released his film, Avatar, in 2009, after more than a decade of working on the film's production. Meanwhile, Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon back in 2005. The Avatar: The Last Airbender ensemble quickly became some of Nickelodeon's most iconic characters, and the show grew an adult fanbase alongside its target audience. By now, it's become an animated classic, and its popularity has only grown in the years since its final episode aired in 2008.RELATED: What Will the Avatar: The Last Airbender Movie Be About?According to Volpe, who worked as a director, writer, storyboard artist, and character designer on Avatar: The Last Airbender, the show was originally called Avatar. This title, however, was vetoed in 2004 because James Cameron had the rights to a little movie called Avatar. As a result, the show picked up its subtitle and became known as Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Volpe joked about the Avatar sequel's title, Avatar: The Way of Water. The title evokes one of the central themes in Avatar: The Last Airbender: the four classical elements. In the series, characters known as "benders" can control one of the four classical elements, with Waterbenders being able to control water. Volpe then joked that Cameron might call his next film "The Firebending Masters," an episode title from book 3 of the animated series.

Funnily enough, Cameron's Avatar had just been released when Avatar: The Last Airbender's sequel, The Legend of Korra, came out in 2009. That series was announced as Avatar: The Legend of Korra before being retitled The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra and finally coming out under the title The Legend of Korra. Presumably, this was because the other Avatar had been at the center of popular culture at the time.

It remains to be seen if the Avatar film series will affect Avatar: The Last Airbender's upcoming animated film, which is hitting theaters on October 10, 2025. Meanwhile, Avatar 3 is expected to be released in 2024, and Avatar 4 is rumored to be released in 2026. It looks like the two franchises just can't escape their interwoven fates.

Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in theaters on December 16, 2022.

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Source: Giancarlo Volpe/Twitter