Avatar 2 release date, cast, trailer and all you need to know about The Way of Water
Avatar: The Way of Water, the long-anticipated sequel to James Cameron’s record-breaking Avatar, is getting nearer its cinematic debut and to say movie fans are excited seems like an understatement.
It’s been a long time coming — not only since the first Avatar movie was released, but since the sequel really began picking up steam.
The first teaser for The Way of Water arrived online back in May, reintroducing fans to the world of Pandora while simultaneously confirming the title, before the main trailer was debuted in November.
Once the movie comes out, it’ll kickstart a succession of sequels every other year until Avatar 5 in December 2028 (assuming that the future films hit no delays or snags). But we’re here to talk Avatar: The Way of the Water, and here’s what we know so far.
Avatar 2 release date: When will Avatar The Way of Water be out in cinemas?
To cut a long story short, Avatar 2 is finally going to be released on December 16, 2022, having been pushed back from December 2021 due to the ongoing global health crisis.
The sequel started filming in 2017, but given the movie is a mix of live-action and motion capture elements, it’s not a surprise it’s taken a while. In September 2020, Cameron revealed that they were “100% complete” on Avatar 2 and around 95% finished on Avatar 3.
Given that we’ve got three other movies to come, Cameron has been working on all of them in recent years. In December 2021, he revealed he’d already filmed some of Avatar 4 due to the young cast.
“Anything that had to be done with a specific actor, we did all the scenes for 2 and 3 together – and a little bit of 4,” he told Variety. “I had to shoot the kids out. They’re allowed to age six years in the middle of the story on page 25 of movie 4. So I needed everything before then, and then everything after, we’ll do later.”
Cameron has also said that he might not actually direct Avatar 4 and 5, but teased that the fourth movie is a “corker”. “I actually hope I get to make it. But it depends on market forces. Three is in the can so it’s coming out regardless,” he told Empire.
“I really hope that we get to make four and five because it’s one big story, ultimately.”
Avatar 2 trailer: Watch the Avatar The Way of Water trailer here!
As we mentioned, the teaser trailer was premiered at CinemaCon and was released exclusively in cinemas with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness before being released online in May.
Avatar 2 title: Say hello to Avatar The Way of Water
As mentioned above, Avatar 2 is now officially called Avatar: The Way of Water.
Interestingly, way back in November 2018, BBC News reported that the four planned Avatar sequels will be called Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: The Seed Bearer, Avatar: The Tulkun Rider and Avatar: The Quest for Eywa.
Cameron later confirmed these are potential titles and since the first one proved to be true, perhaps these will be the titles of the following three movies too.
Avatar 2 cast: Who’s back in Avatar The Way of Water?
The core cast of the original Avatar are all on contract, so Cameron’s stars will be back. Zoe Saldaña will reprise the role of the Na’vi princess Neytiri, with Sam Worthington also returning as the human-turned-Na’vi, Jake Sully.
Stephen Lang is back as the dead Colonel Miles Quaritch and he’s going to be the main villain of the four movies and from the teaser. Lang confirmed a fan theory as to his return in July 2022, saying that Quaritch is now “bigger, he’s bluer, he’s pissed off”. Uh-oh.
Sigourney Weaver will also be back as Na’vi teenager Kiri, the adoptive daughter of Neytiri and Jake in the sequel. Kate Winslet is playing the role of Ronal in all the Avatar sequels, marking hers and James Cameron’s first collaboration since the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. Ronal is the “deeply loyal and fearless” co-leader of the Metkayina clan.
CCH Pounder will also reprise her role Neytiri’s mum Mo’at, and Matt Gerald is back as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, while Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie) is playing the new character General Ardmore.
The sequel will introduce a new Na’vi clan called the Metkayina, led by Fear the Walking Dead‘s Cliff Curtis as Tonowari and also featuring the likes of Bailey Bass’s Reya and Duane Evans Jr’s Rotxo.
Jake and Neytiri have Na’vi children in the sequel too, including Jamie Flatters’s Neteyam, Britain Dalton’s Lo’ak and Trinity Bliss’s Tuktirey. They have also adopted a human child Miles Socorro, aka Spider, who is played by Jack Champion.
Avatar 2 plot: What will Avatar The Way of Water be about?
Along with the title announcement, we got the first official synopsis which confirmed much of what we already suspected.
It reads: “Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.”
We also know that even though there are set to be three sequels after this one, each movie will be a stand-alone story with Landau saying that “the journey across all four movies will create a connected saga”.
Into the mix will be the return of the RDA mining operation to Pandora, forcing Jake to take his family to the “perceived safe harbour” at the reef where they meet the Metkayina. To really capture the importance of water, Avatar 2 filmed its motion-capture scenes underwater.
We also know there’s been a bespoke sign language created for the movie by Baby Driver’s CJ Jones, a deaf actor who’s been hired to create a “new Na’vi sign language”.
