“It worked to my disadvantage because now I’m a fan.

“He’s an OG,” Champion agrees.

What does the future of theAvatarfranchise look like?

As the Whitney Houston song tells us, the children are our future.

Around that same time, Landau was occupied with executing the re-release ofTitanicon its 15th anniversary in 2012.

It was only after that milestone that they sat down in earnest to map out their plans for anAvatarfranchise.

Do we go somewhere else?”

We want to do that same thing with the sequels, so set all the movies on Pandora."

(Landau separately toldio9that a section of their planned fifth movie is set on Earth.)

Cameron soon hit a wall.

There was too much material for even a filmmaker accustomed to epic canvases to shape.

The story, calledHigh Ground,now exists as a comic bookreleased by Dark Horse.

Before she can do that, she must deal with the natives.

Ardmore creates her own Na’vi strike team by placing the minds of soldiers into hybrid Avatar bodies.

That includes the recently deceased Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Winslet’s Ronal andCliff Curtis' Tonowari lead the Metkayina.

“I don’t think he’s out to replicate himself,” Worthington says of Cameron.

“He’s out to expand the world and expand the family.

Within that, the stakes are going to get higher.

Worthington’s Jake Sully still maintains a rebellious, reckless spirit, but now has kids.

“How can you be these inspirational warriors [while] being these protective parents?”

When do you trust, and when do you let go?

Planting Seeds on Pandora

Sigourney Weaverhad a different challenge.

Kiri maintains a strong connection to nature and the animals that inhabit Pandora.

She’s closest to the spirit of Eywa, the Na’vi God.

Given her seemingly immaculate conception, “Na’vi Jesus” isn’t a far-out descriptor for Kiri.

“It was just like, ‘How are you going do this?’

It was excited shock.”

“We had lessons in underwater sign language,” she remembers.

I was determined to keep up with these kids, who have endless energy and flexibility.

I’m really happy about that because we do have to be our own little mob.

By that time, I felt like one of the little rag-tag kids.”

“She’s a legend, but she’s really there for us.

She’d be there, making us feel like she’s our big sis.

Saldana puts her hands over her heart as she thinks about that.

“What they bring is such a breath of fresh air, Kiri included.

It’s a brand-new experience into Pandora.”

Flatters' Neteyam is the eldest child of Jake and Neytiri.

He was shooting a scene with Worthington and Saldana.

It was the best day in that sense.”

Bliss' Tuk is the youngest child, but she doesn’t see herself that way.

She’s “trying to prove that she can do what everyone else does,” Bliss explains.

“She might be small in size, but she’s mighty in courage.”

As the film explains, infants weren’t able to survive cryogenic stasis.

Jake took Spider in and raised him as one of their family, though Neytiri sees him as other.

“The best metaphor is really good episodic TV, where you understand the problems of the character.

Cameron notes there are “a couple questions” purposefully left unanswered by the end ofThe Way of Water.

Some of those questions revolve around Kiri, others around Quaritch.

“There’s a long, long way to go.”

“We’ve already shot the other damn movie.

I don’t have to sell it to anybody.”

Bass mentions some days would entail shooting two scenes fromAvatar 2in the morning before moving into scenes fromAvatar 3.

Jim makes you a part of the whole process and hears you.

They could know where they were going.”

Another reason for such a perfectly orchestrated filming schedule: the growth spurts of children.

Performance-capture VFX, while able to transform Weaver into a Na’vi teenager, can only do so much.

Trinity was around 7 when she was cast as Tuk.

Now she’s 13.

Champion, cast at age 12, was “growing like a weed,” Cameron remembers.

“We shot with Jack when he was 14 and 15, almost up to 16.

So we were shooting him over an 18-month period.”

“It was like, ‘Just hand me the shotgun.’

But fortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

Cameron says there’s “a big time jump” coming after the first act in the fourth movie.

“We jump as many years as we need to jump.”

He’s that entrenched in this world.

I think audiences will want to go on the journey with them.”

Moving forward, “each movie will introduce audiences to new biomes,” Landau confirms.

“Each movie is going to introduce audiences to new clans, new cultures on Pandora.

Once we introduce a character, they stay a part of the ongoing evolution.

We just add to it.

Cameron offers an update on the status of all the sequels.

(Dec. 20, 2024 is the official release date carved out forAvatar 3.)

Those plans will also surely include technological advancements.

He and Landau won’t say what those are yet, only that they’re actively thinking about them.

The Way of Waterused to be the “new ceiling,” Landau says.

Now, “that’s our new floor.”

“We are continually trying to push the boundaries of what is possible,” he continues.

“Let’s keep venturing there.”