Spoilers ahead for Avatar: The Way of Water.
After over a decade of waiting James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water finally arrived in theaters over the holidays, and has continued to make money at the box office in the weeks since. This is a great sign for the burgeoning franchise, revealing that there is still interest in the ongoing story set on Pandora. And Avatar’s producer recently revealed the big questions surrounding the threequel after The Way of Water’s events. So, what’s next for the Sully family?
The ending of Avatar: The Way of Water largely saw our protagonists come out on top, but not without sacrifice. Jake and Neytiri’s oldest son Neteyam died saving the other kids, and that grief ended up fueling the final scenes. The family also continues living with Spider, who is actually Quaritch’s son. Producer Jon Landau spoke to Empire about the future of the franchise, and about how the second movie will influence what comes next. As he put it,
Hopefully, The Way Of Water came to its own conclusion, as I think each movie will, but they do set things up because we get more and more invested in these characters. Where does Kiri [Sigourney Weaver] go? What is Lo’ak [Britain Dalton] up to? What decisions will Jake [Sam Worthington] and Neytiri [Zoe Saldaña] have to make? All of those things will continue to drive our story… I thought it was classic Jim just to do the unconventional. They come together as a family, but they now have to live with the guilt one might feel as a parent or as a sibling. Zoe did such a phenomenal job in that [death] scene. How long does that loss stay with her as a mother? How do you overcome that?
I don’t know about you, but suddenly the wait for Avatar 3 feels excruciatingly long. Especially since the movie was filmed years ago and is presumably fairly close to completion. Alas, we’ll have to wait until December 2024 to see how the Sully family has changed since their latest conflict with the RDA and their continued life with the Metkayina. And seems like their communal mourning will be a major influence on the next chapter.
Jon Landau’s comments make a great deal of sense given the final act of Avatar: The Way of Water. Neytiri almost becomes feral after the death of Neteyam, brutally murdering RDA agents and threatening the life of Spider in the process. And in the final moments of the film, she connects with the spirit tree and is able to release memories of her first born. It’ll be fascinating to see how that continued grief changes Zoe Saldaña’s character.
The contents of Avatar 3 are currently a complete mystery, although James Cameron has teased that yet another tribe of the Na’vi will be introduced. Namely the Ash People, who might be antagonistic to other clans. Could this conflict mirror a fracture in the Sully family? Only time will tell.
Since the first two Avatar sequels were filmed simultaneously, James Cameron’s next chapter of the franchise is already seemingly set in stone. If all goes well, two more movies will follow afterward to complete the filmmaker’s five-film narrative. But if the box office performance of The Way of Water is any indication, the franchise could have some real legs.
Avatar: The Way of Water is still in theaters now, and Avatar 3 will follow suit on December 20th, 2014. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
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