Popverse's top stories of the day

• Winona Ryder was reduced to tears on the set of Stranger Things when the young cast couldn't identify a vinyl record
• Watch: The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power cast explains what's coming in season 2
• Bleach's character designer says pop culture's greatest villain isn't from anime, but Disney

Airbending can be hard work, but snack breaks help.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated series about a group of individuals who have the ability to manipulate, or ‘bend,’ the various elements. The series ran for 61 episodes, which is a lot of action, adventure, and voice work. Is it any wonder the cast got hungry?

Luckily, Nickelodeon had them covered. During an Avatar reunion panel at Florida Supercon 2024, the cast revealed one of the best features at Nickelodeon Studios – the popcorn machine!  

“In between scenes the actors would go outside the booth, and there’s a thing called craft services with a bunch of snacks and drinks. We would go out there and we’d eat some snacks and talk to each other about life,” Dante Basco says.

“It was Nickelodeon Studios and there was a popcorn machine,” Jack DeSena recalls with excitement. “You could smell when the fresh popcorn was made. It was time for a break. We were good. We needed the popcorn,” Basco added.

I’m not saying that the popcorn made the episodes better. However…the fresh popcorn certainly put the cast in a good mood, which probably helped them perform better. Maybe other studios should take some cues from Nickelodeon and offer fresh popcorn. As Popverse recently learned, everything is better with popcorn.

Here's how to watch all of Avatar: The Last Airbender in order.