There are some new images and details for Avatar
2, thanks to a new published article by Empire Magazine here in the UK.
We also get interviews by James Cameron, Sam Worthington,
Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Stephen Lang and more.
In this video, I'm going to be discussing the images and details, breaking down the
newest looks at the film.
But before I get into it, if you want to see much more videos on
James cameron's Avatar: The Way Of Water leading up to it's release date, then don't forget
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But without further a do, lets discuss the new images and details for Avatar 2 from Empire
Magazine.
So the new edition of Empire Magazine has over 15 new images for James Cameron's Avatar
2 and there are a lot of details shared by the director and crew on why they are aiming
to go even bigger with the long awaited sequel.
Empire released two versions of this magazine.
The standard edition which has a picture of Kate Winslet's Ronal on the front and then
the subscriber edition that I recieved, which includes a
cover of Sigourney Weaver's new character named Kiri.
Just a note before I start, most of these images haven't been released as of yet, so
the copies you see of them are ones that I've
personally taken for this video, and I did try my best to make them look as detailed
as possible.
They're not perfect but I did my best with the
images taken to present them in as high quality as I could.
I will be showing these images on screen as I discuss the details in the article.
So let's get straight into it.
Starting with the man himself, director James Cameron talks about how he's aiming to redefine
digital cinema once again, and the difficult process of bringing these new Avatar films
to life.
Speaking to Empire, he stated, “What I said to the Fox regime at the time was, "I’ll
do it, but we’ve got to play a larger game here.
I don’t want to just do a movie and do a movie
and do a movie.
I want to tell a bigger story.
I said, imagine a series of novels like The Lord Of The Rings existed, and we’re adapting
them.
Now, that was great in theory, but then I had to go create the novels from which to
adapt it.
I had to think long and hard whether I even wanted to make another Avatar film, because
it was kind of ours to lose.
When you’ve done something that’s been that transcendent
in terms of success, do you really want to go try and do that again?
There’s a lot of pressure on it.
I thought about it for a good two years before we finally made a deal.”
Of course, if there’s any filmmaker who can overcome the pressure and go beyond that,
it’s James Cameron.
The filmmaker also goes on to explain that the
Avatar 2 subtitle is a bigger part of what this new film's story is about.
Apparently, it stems from the unfinished novelisation of the first film, where Zoe Saldana's Neytiri
has an ethos she calls "the way of air".
So maybe we could see that theory about water, air and all the elements translated into the
narrative of the sequels.
But as the filmmaker continues in the article, this was more about "understanding
the medium in which you operate."
Cameron also went on to debate the criticisms people have had towards the first film, including
his thoughts on the runtime and longer movies in general.
He said, “the trolls will have it that nobody cares and they can’t remember
the characters’ names or one damn thing that happened in the movie.
Then they see the movie again and go, ‘Oh, okay, excuse me, let me just
shut the f-up right now.’
So I’m not worried about that."
And in regards to the runtime, he said, “I don’t want anybody whining about length
when they sit and binge-watch television for up to eight hours.
I can almost write this part of the review.
‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie ...'. It’s like, give me an f-ing break.
I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour episodes in a row.
Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s okay to get up and go
pee.”
The original Avatar was 2 hours and 40 minutes for its theatrical
version, and according to Empire, Avatar: The Way Of Water is currently around 3 hours
long.
To be honest, I understand where Cameron's coming from here especially since he's taken
his time to really make the film he wants to make
in the right way.
I don't think his frustration is aimed at everyone who's able to pause and watch TV
the way they want to, which people online are using as a counter argument.
It's sounds like he's more frustrated at those who complain about a movie being long just
because it's long.
We get that in today's culture with shorter attention plans and at the end of
the day, you can only make the best movie you can with a runtime that fits that particular
story correctly.
In my opinion, pretty much all of Cameron's films have had a good running time,
even though they've been longer examples, and I think that's all the matters at the
end of the day.
So hopefully Avatar 2 is a film that feels right for being 3 hours long and the
quality speaks ahead of the quantity.
Either way, I think some people are misunderstanding his frustration here and having been around
loads of people who complain about a movie being
3 hours long before they even watch it, it makes me kind of understand where he's coming
from.
He maybe could have worded it differently, but
I think that's the point he's trying to make.
The other thing the director talked about, and this was quite surprising in my opinion,
is that while he's putting the extreme effort in the complete and perfect Avatar 2 and 3,
he suggests in the article that with Avatar 4
and 5, the final films planned in this saga, that he might not direct them.
He stated, “the Avatar films themselves are kind of all-consuming.
I’ve got some other things I’m developing as well that are exciting.
I think eventually over time – I don’t know if that’s after three or after four
– I’ll want to pass the baton to a director that I trust to take over, so I can
go do some other stuff that I’m also interested in.
Or maybe not.
I don’t know.
Everything I need to say about family, about sustainability,
about climate, about the natural world, the themes that are important to me in real life
and in my cinematic life, I can say on this canvas.
I got more excited as I went along.
The 4th 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.
I really hope that we get to make four and five
because it’s one big story, ultimately.
There's a big time jump in the story that takes place in the first act of Avatar 4 and
the saga has magnificent scope.
It get's very f-ing dark and tragic, there are serious consequences.
You're asked to invest in an idea of hope for everybody, hope for the Na'vi and hope
for the humans.
That to me is the big ethical and moral shift.
It's a story about hope".
So it's really cool to hear Cameron go into the extended plans for the later films cause
we haven't really heard much on them.
And what this tells me is that he's really focussing on bringing a more
impactful story this time around that can really make you invest in multiple films.
We'll have to see if that reigns true, but I do hope he
can stick around to direct all these films himself.
That's of course if the next two really live up to what he's aiming to achieve and the
audience love them.
Moving on, we start to get some info on some of the returning characters and new players
in this long-developed saga.
In particular, we get a deeper look at Jake and Neytiri's family in
the sequel, getting a sense of how this film is upping the stakes as Pandora faces a new
war.
In the image on screen, you can see Neytiri and Jake, and then from left to right, Sigourney
Weaver’s adopted child Kiri, as well as their three biological, Neteyam, Lo’ak and
Tuktirey.
As Cameron explains, he wants to up the personal and emotional stakes of his four upcoming
films and Sulley's family are the heart of that very notion.
He said, “I’m a father of five.
I look around – I don’t want to specifically say the Marvel Universe, or the DC Universe
– at current fantasy and science-fiction and
all these heroes seem unbound in the mire of relationships, the stuff that pulls you
down and clips your wings, that stops you running around
and risking your life.
I thought, What if I take these incredible characters of Jake and Neytiri and give them
a family?’
That gives them feet of clay right there.”
And add on that Cameron is giving them a human son, and it
makes things even more complex for the developing narrative.
Their orphaned human son Spider, was stranded on Pandora after the first war and
is now looked after by the family.
Actor Sam Worthington stated, “It’s about what you are teaching your children as they
develop, and grow.
Jake comes from the point of view of being a
Marine and leans into that way of thinking because that’s what was ingrained in him
about surviving.
Pacifism and militarism are definitely going to come clashing.”
The next character that get's a bigger discussion in this article too, is none other than a
returning Cameron regular in Sigourney Weaver.
We all were asking, how would she be coming back, since her character Dr. Grace Augustine
died during the events of the first Avatar.
Well we actually learn who she is going to be playing in Avatar 2 and it's pretty unreal.
She is playing an entirely new character this
time around, and this character is a Na’vi called Kiri, who shockingly is Jake and Neytiri’s
adoptive teenage daughter.
On playing the character, Sigourney explains, “I think
we all pretty much remember what we were feeling as adolescents.
I certainly do.
I was 5’ 10” or 5’ 11” when I was 11 years old.
I felt strongly that Kiri would feel awkward a lot of the
time.
She’s searching for who she is.
I was thrilled to be given that challenge by Jim."
Cameron added to Sigourney's character, that “as an
acting challenge, it’s big.
We’re gonna have a 60-something actor play a character decades younger than her actual
biological age.
Sigourney thought it was all kinds of fun.
She workshopped with a group of teenage girls
and Sigourney just became younger.
She looked younger, she had more energy, and she never quite stepped out of Kiri for our
whole capture period.
She had a glow on her face and lightness in her step and a fun spirit.”
And speaking of other returning actors, one who dies in the original film was Stephen
Lang's Quaritch.
Unlike Sigourney, he's going to be playing the same character, but this time, in a
Na’vi body.
Stephen Lang said, “he’s bigger, he’s bluer, he’s pissed off.
But there may possibly be an aspect of humility.
When you take two Na’vi arrows in the chest, that’s gonna have
some kind of effect on you.”
And according to the actor, the RDA has also been upgraded, with avatars embedded with
the memories of human soldiers.
He continued saying, “Quaritch was always a character who moved in straight lines
and at right angles.
But now he is as lithe as they come.
He can move with the same kind of cunning and feral quality that any of the Na’vi
can."
Producer Jon Landau also added that the RDA "are comiing back with an armada to take back
the prized possession that they lost, building an entire new city called Bridgehead, and
are stripping away the resources of Pandora’s oceans.
They have a weapons-spewing 3D printing facility that means they’re even more ready for the
fight this time around.
And coming to the final character, we get great detail on a new actress who's going
to be joining the Avatar crew in an important role.
This actress has worked with Cameron before in
creating one of the three highest grossing movies of all time.
Kate Winslet is back in a James Cameron film and this time around she's going to be plaing
a new Na’vi warrior named Ronal, alongside Cliff Curtis’ Tonowari.
Ronal leads the Metkayina clan, who dwell in the shallows of Pandora’s vast oceans
and according to the magazine, she will play a big part in this first
sequel.
Kate Winslet stated, “she is deeply loyal and a fearless leader, she is strong.
A warrior.
Even in the face of grave danger, and with an unborn baby on board, she still joins her
people and fights for what she holds most dear.
Her family and their home.”
And in discussing Ronal and the Metkayina clan, we get quite a good grasp on the ongoing
conflict of Avatar: The Way Of Water.
Empire adds important plot description, explaining that when Jake and Neytiri are pushed away
from their home, they flee to the Metkayina’s waterworld, where conflict
seems to be building between them.
By the looks of it, this is a bond that has to be developed and it's not going to be an
easy welcome for Jake and his family.
Cliff Curtis says, "when Jake shows up in our neighbourhood, because
of his history, we know the colonisers will most likely follow him.
But we have a culture where we must hospitable to those that show up at
our doorstep.
So, it's not an easy situation at all."
Zoe Saldana also added, "It will be very relatable to how we see foreign policy.
Nations are currently at war and and a big nation
is being requested to take in refugees.
I really feel the Metkayina are no different.
They are going 'who are these people?
What do we stand to lose if we let them in'?
So overall, we get a lot more details surrounding the landscape
of what this story is going to be building on.
In the first film, Jake had to show the Na'vi that he truly believes believes in them over
the Human's grasp for resources.
In The Way Of Water, it looks like him and his family are going to be forced out of their
home, and they are going to have to try and convince a huge
clan to help them.
It will be interesting to see how this develops, but all story and character details here,
really do raise my excitement for what James Cameron has planned, with his
Avatar saga.
But they were all the main images and details from the new Empire edition of Avatar: The
Way Of Water, and I'm sure that we will be getting many more reveals during the buildup
to the release of the film this December.
These new images and details give us more reasons towards why Cameron has took so long
to release the sequels and it just shows the effort that is
going into this new saga.
He's wrote books for each film, adapted them into scripts and then waited for the technology
to advance so that he can really bring this to life in a big way.
We'll soon find out if it was worth the wait and this new magazine article gives us an
extra hint of what to expect with the first sequel.
But I'm interested to hear what you guys think towards the new images and info, alongside
what personally excites you about James Cameron's Avatar 2.
So let me know down below in the comments section.
For more videos surrounding Avatar: The Way Of Water leading up to it's release date in
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But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some
noise.