At long last, Avatar: The Last Airbender fans can indulge in collectibles. Dark Horse Comics and Nickelodeon have announced plans for brand new products based on Avatar as well as The Legend of Korra.

Soon you can show off your Water, Earth, Air or Fire Nation pride with an array of merchandise including figurines, drinkware, coasters, magnets, playing cards, lunch boxes (pictured below), pins, plush, and limited-edition statues.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are some of the finest animated television shows ever created,” David Scroggy, Dark Horse Vice President, Product Development, said. “We feel a strong responsibility to bring forward the creators’ vision as accurately as possible in the style they have established, and we are excited to bring these products to fans.”

When the Avatar dies, a new Avatar is chosen right away. When The Legend of Korra season one ended, fans had to wait a bit longer for the new season. Returning almost 18 months after the season finale of Book One: Air, Book 2: Spirits premieres this September on Nickelodeon and it looks incredible.

Those at the Korra panel at SDCC responded to a special screening of the first episode, “Rebel Spirit,” with roaring applause. Spirits picks up six months after Air with Republic City slowly returning to normal now that Amon and the Equalists are gone. But Korra has a new battle to face when the physical and spirit worlds collide, pushing her to discover more about both realms.

Book 2 will also explore the origins of the Avatar with Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead’s Glenn) voicing the very first Avatar, Wan. Ten thousand years before Korra’s time, Wan was just a teenage and skilled bender whose quest to bring balance between mankind and the spirits led to him become the first to master all four elements.

Originally slated to return this summer, the extra few months looks like it will be well worth it. The trailer is stunning in its teasing of storylines (Korra enters the Spirit World! Spirit Library with the terrifying owl!) and the beauty of the animation paired with the quiet musical score of the show.

Avatar: The Last Airbender may have ended in 2008 but it left a devoted fan base that has only grown in recent years. Now the sequel to the hit animated Nickleodeon show is poised to become just as popular if the thousands of people crammed into Ballroom 20 at San Diego Comic Con last week were any indication. The cast and creators of The Legend of Korra were on hand at SDCC where they gave out a few hints about what the second part of season one would bring.

Book Two picks up six months after the conclusion of Book One: Air. Team Avatar will travel to the Southern Water Tribe and Southern Air Temple as Korra (Janet Varney) continues mastering the elements. She will also make a trip or two to the spirit world, as hinted at by the Book Two’s subtitle, Spirits. But the team will also split apart as Asami (Seychelle Gabriel) takes control of her father’s company, Future Industries, Bolin (P.J. Byrne) returns to the Pro-Bending arena and Mako (David Faustino) becomes a Republic City policeman.

Even before SDCC, Nickelodeon had already order three more seasons of Korra, for a total of 52 episodes, and it’s easy to see why. The short previews displayed at Comic-Con proved that Korra hasn’t lost its superb balance between action, humor, mystery, the supernatural, and romance. If you aren’t convinced, just watch the Book One highlights below and be sure to keep an eye out for Book Two: Spirits premiering in Summer 2013.

Most people who identify themselves as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans discovered the heroes in a half shell during their enormously successful first cartoon. It was that show that set a lot of the series trademarks that are essential turtle cannon to this day.

There have been other cartoons since the original, even quite popular ones, but nothing really compares to the impact of the original. It seems the people who are crafting the new Turtles cartoon show have a heavy dose respect for that incarnation as is evidenced by the debut trailer.

Debuting exclusively over at EW.com, the trailer for the upcoming cartoon gives us our first look at the animation style and tone of the show.  It looks like a cross between the classic Turtles, the Clone Wars and anime inspired Teen Titans show from a few years back.

Long time turtle fans should appreciate the general character designs and the tone of the characters, both of which seem to directly come from original cartoon. The animation style also seems appropriately epic for a show about  giant turtles fighting a secret ninja clan, and likely aliens.

The trailer will pop up officially everywhere tomorrow, but you can click over to the EW link and take a look at it right now. Hopefully this show ends up great, because a great TMNT cartoon is important for today’s youth.

I have been vocal in opposition to the intensely wrong-headed internet overreaction to the Michael Bay produced Ninja Turtles reboot. A single misinterpreted statement and geek level distrust of Bay led to a firestorm of misinformation and backlash.

Unfortunately we will never get a definitive answer to who was right in that debate as Paramount has shut down this particular reboot and pushed it’s release date:

The effects-heavy film, which was in pre-production in Vancouver, was set for release in December 2013. That date is being pushed to May 2014, according to sources…The issue is said to be the script… Now it has halted work on its planned holiday movie for 2013, temporarily laying off pre-production staff and informing those prepping the film that the work stoppage is “indefinite,”

I really think we are missing out on what could have been a fun take on the characters. That said, anytime a movie like this is pushed in pre-production to work on the script is a good sign. It would have been very easy for them to rush production and fix the script as they go along, which rarely works for these types of films.

In the interim Ninja Turtle fans have a new TV series to look forward to that will have to keep you satisfied until the movie gears back up. Keep your eyes peeled to The Flickcast for more updates on this project in the coming weeks.

Some days you just have to stand back and shake your head. The internet is a powder keg of misunderstanding and preconception. When a polarizing figure like Michael Bay makes an off hand comment about a beloved franchise that doesn’t meet perfect fan criteria, the whole things explodes in so much whiny status updates and forum threads.

Recently Bay, who’s Platinum Dunes is setting up a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot, made a comment about the Turtles being of alien origin. He made the comments during the Nickelodeon up-fronts last week, and the internet has been all pissy about it since then.

Keen to clarify his original statement, Bay remarked on his official message boards about the subject:

Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.

Later this year, Nickelodeon will be reinventing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon much in the way that IDW Publishing reinvented the TMNT comic line. While the core characteristics of the Turtles will remain intact, the creative teams behind these versions have gone in two very different directions. While IDW has gone for a more gritty and realistic (well as realistic as mutant turtles can be) version of the shelled foursome, Nickelodeon is going the other direction with a more kid friendly version much in the way the comics and cartoon series diverged over twenty years ago.

At Toy Fair, the Flickcast got to see some of these latest Turtles designs up close and personal. The first thing people will notice actually isn’t the turtles at all but the redesigns on Shredder, Splinter and April. Shredder’s redesign looks like it has some drastic anime inspired influences behind him. He has been beefed up in terms of muscles and has more exaggerated spikes on his armor than ever before. The same goes for the Foot Soldier’s who now have incredibly creepy white with red polka dotted eyes.

Those who grew up, or even had a TV in the mid 90’s probably remember one of Nickelodeon’s most popular animated shows, Doug. The show was about a tween-aged boy who tries to make it through junior high school troubles of an evil bully, a weird older sister, and impressing the girl of his dreams. The show lasted 4 seasons until Disney bought the rights in 1996 and rebooted it. It was downhill from there.

Now, fans of the original Douglas Yancey Funnie and his gang of multicolored pals can now be seen in a new fan trailer from YouTube comedian DrCoolSex. Not only do we get the return of some nostalgic characters, but they’re even played by real folks! That’s right, a live action trailer.

Think of it like Doug meets Garden State as an older Doug returns home to reunite with his previous friends and family. Some great comedic moments in this one, so be sure to check it out after the jump.

Every good super hero tale needs an even better origin story. Well, the same goes for super villain tales, and that’s quite clear as the release date for Dreamworks’ twist on the classic “Good vs. Evil” battle in Megamind starring Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt.

With Madagascar director Tom McGrath taking the helm and a very impressive voice cast including Ferrell, Pitt, Tina Fey, David Cross, and Jonah Hill, there is very little stopping this film from becoming the next Incredibles, which is exactly what Dreamworks is hoping for.

Nickelodeon also has faith in the film, as they’ve released the first five minutes of the film online, which gives us an inside look at the origin of both Metro Man and Megamind. Of course there are allusions to other great comic tales, just done with that Will Ferrell style of humor.

Check out the first five minutes after the jump and catch Megamind in theaters and 3D on November 5th.

It looks like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have a new place to call home: MTV Networks and more specifically, Nickelodeon. According to Reuters, the network, the world’s number one for kids, acquired the rights today to the globally recognized, and phenomenally successful, Ninja Turtles property for roughly $60 Million.

The network plans to develop a new CG-animated television series based on the shelled superheroes, which will potentially debut sometime in 2012. In addition, the network is planning the release of brand new feature films starring the Turtles in partnership with Paramount Pictures and will also continue to work Playmates Toys on merchandising of the Turtles.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids.”

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon,” said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

Actually, TMNT and Nick seem like a great partnership. TMNT has always seemed more of a kids thing to me and for it to be on Nickelodeon and then have a brand new movie from Paramount should continue to expand the appeal of these characters for a long time to come.