It’s impossible not to get excited for any project from the creatives who delivered the perfection that is Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is why The Dragon Prince instantly draws the eye, but, now that we’ve gotten the first trailer courtesy of SDCC, the show also appears to contain much of the same DNA that made ATLA great.
Slow-ish frame rate aside, the trailer is an excellent tease of action, goofiness, and the kind of character designs that were hallmarks of ATLA. One character even appears to throw air during a fight. No doubt The Dragon Prince will be its own animal, though. The show focuses on a conflict between humans and elves through the alliance of two princely brothers (Jack DeSena’s Callum and Sasha Rojen’s Ezran) and their would-be elf assassin (Paula Burrows’ Rayla).
If an elf is trying to kill you, befriend her. That’s good life advice.
The Dragon Prince is a collaboration between ATLA head writer Aaron Ehasz, Annie award-winning ATLA director Giancarlo Volpe, and Uncharted 3 director Justin Richmond. Obviously the personnel is brimming with potential, but the show also has a glowing magical toad named Bait, so bingeing every episode when they land September 14 feels appropriate.
The most exciting thing is the opportunity to see more of Ehasz’s world-building. These characters already feel familiar, and I couldn’t fault them if they used a hefty amount of the ATLA formula as a starting point, but that showed excelled in its scope and the way it revealed the world’s nooks and crannies along the way, which is why The Dragon Prince could be another standout of mythological proportions.
Images: Netflix
