Excitement for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has been gradually increasing ever since the trailer dropped two months ago. However, the past week has gifted us with some goodies straight from Pandora. Thanks to a brilliant exclusive from Empire, we finally have some information revolving around Avatar‘s many curiosities. So, let’s dive into what we discovered and how it may impact Cameron’s highly anticipated sequel.
One of the biggiest mysteries surrounding The Way of Water involved Sigourney Weaver. Let’s go back to 2009 for a second. After suffering a fatal bullet wound, courtesy of Stephen Lang’s Quaritch, Grace Augustine died and Eywa failed to save her. Now, in Avatar: The Way of Water Sigourney Weaver is actually playing a brand new character called Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adoptive teenage daughter. Yeah, work that one out. What’s interesting is that an image shared via Empire‘s exclusive shows Kiri interacting with a video recording of Augustine. So, is there some sort of relation between the two, or is this Cameron’s way of simply letting Weaver in on the fun? Depending on the timeline, Kiri could possibly be a reincarnation of Augustine, perhaps a gift from Eywa.
“As an acting challenge, it’s big,” says James Cameron. “We’re gonna have a 60-something actor playing a character [decades younger than] her actual biological age. Sig thought it was all kinds of fun.”
That wasn’t the only update we received. Oh, no. Cameron had another ace up his sleeve and it partly answers the biggest question of all… How on earth is Stephen Lang back? When it was first announced that Stephen Lang would be returning to Pandora, it caused a bit of a fuss. In the first film we literally saw him get impaled by Neytiri’s arrows. However, as confirmed by Empire, Miles Quaritch is back and in Stephen Lang’s words “He’s bigger, he’s bluer, he’s pissed off.”
How is this possible? The Way of Water will bring back the RDA (Resources Development Administration). This time though, they’ve brought some upgrades of their own. This is where the Recoms, aka Recombinants, come in. Embedded with the essence of human soldiers, the RDA have a small army of Na’vi soldiers. According to producer Jon Landau, the RDA are “coming back with an armada to take back the prized possession that they lost.” Moving away from what we saw in the first Avatar, we’ll settle down in Bridgehead- RDA’s new city. From the sounds of it, it seems as though the Quaritch and the RDA are gearing up for round two. In addition to an Avatar army, the RDA will also have a 3D printing facility at their disposal. From there, they’ll be able to mass produce weapons and machines to no end.
That’s a lot of information to process and, to be honest, we’re surprised that we’ve been allowed to see all of this with over five months to go. It makes you wonder… What could they be hiding? With multiple sequels lined up, there must be something that connects them all. Will Avatar: The Way of Water introduce a darker force, or will Quaritch’s desire for revenge take him over the edge? Pandora is literally surrounded by a hive-mind system that connects everything together, we’ve only seen the tip of what Pandora has to offer… Can you imagine what else awaits? There are so many possibilities and we can’t wait to find out more when Avatar hits cinemas this Christmas.
With there still being quite some time until its release, there is a very big possibility that we will get to see more in the near future. As always, make sure you keep those eyes peeled for more news
Eager fans can rush and return to the beautiful yet treacherous world of Pandora in December. Avatar: The Way of Water is set to be released on December 16th, 2022. Are you excited for James Cameron’s sequel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.