Kiawentiio Tarbell’s waterbender Katara vows to fulfil her responsibility as a warrior in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in a special character teaser dropped by Netflix on social media on Monday.

“This waterbender is ready to take on any challenge. meet Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender premiering February 22,” wrote the streaming platform on Instagram alongside a short video introducing the character of Katara. The Netflix series is adapted from the eponymous animated fantasy action television series, which aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons from February 2005 to July 2008.

M. Night Shyamalan turned it into a film, Avatar: The Last Airbender, in 2010 which starred Nicola Peltz as Katara.

In the animated series, 14-year-old Katara is the only member of the Southern Water Tribe with the power to telekinetically control water and ice. Together with her elder brother Sokka, Katara revives airbender Aang, the long-lost Avatar, thereafter accompanying him on his mission to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and restore peace to the war-torn world.

The trailer of the upcoming live-action Netflix series aptly captures the determination and courage of Katara, who acknowledges the overriding importance of protecting Aang, the only individual who can control all the four elements of fire, water, earth and air, using gestures based on Chinese martial arts.

The story is set in a world where harmony among four nations — the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads — is disrupted when Fire Lord Sozin pledges to conquer the entire civilisation. Each of these four nations, named after the four classical elements, consists of a few ‘benders’, members who can telekinetically control the element corresponding to the name of their tribe. The individual who possesses the ability to control all four elements is, however, called an Avatar.

Netflix recently dropped a trailer featuring Gordon Cormier as the young Avatar Aang. A stunning melange of CGI-generated graphics, martial arts and spectacular locations, the trailer also features Ian Luke Ousley as Sokka.

Kiawentiio, who will portray Katara in the Netflix series, belongs to the Mohawk community, Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America. She made her television debut in the third instalment of the CBC series Anne with an E (2019), starring Amybeth McNulty in the titular role. In the series, Kiawentiio plays Ka’kwet, a young member of the Mi'kmaq people, who befriends Anne but is later captured by government officials carrying out ethnocide.

The 17-year-old actress-singer-songwriter made her film debut in 2020 with director Tracey Deer’s Canadian drama film Beans.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, created by Albert Kim, is slated to premiere on Netflix on February 22.