The first detailed trailer for the highly anticipated “Avatar” sequel “The Way of Water” has been released. The approximately two and a half minute video shows the breathtaking underwater worlds that director and Oscar winner James Cameron (68) created for the sequel to the most successful film of all time. The new trailer may also show two characters who actually died in “Avatar” from 2009, but now apparently return.
The return of Stephen Lang (70), who played the main antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch in “Avatar”, has already been officially confirmed. The military cheated death by transferring his consciousness into a Na’vi body. The actor Lang confirmed this to “Empire” in July. “He’s bigger, he’s bluer, he’s angry,” Lang revealed of his character’s return in a different form. Also, the nasty villain is now able to move “smoothly” like a Na’vi.
Lang’s blue Na’vi character makes a brief glimpse in the new Avatar: The Way of Water trailer. He crushes a human skull with his bare hand.
Things get a little more confusing in the case of the new Na’vi character, Kiri. In “Avatar 2” she is the daughter of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, 46) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña, 44) – and can be seen prominently at various points in the trailer. The teenage character is played and voiced by 73-year-old actress Sigourney Weaver, who portrayed scientist Dr. Grace Augustine impersonated.
dr Augustine passed away at the end of “Avatar” and Jake tried in vain at the tree of souls to transfer her consciousness into an avatar, but the procedure failed and her spirit merged with Eywa, the vast network of the moon Pandora.
The connection between Jake’s daughter Kiri, the late Dr. Augustine and the Living Moon Pandora previews one of the biggest mysteries of Avatar: The Way of Water. In the new trailer, Kiri says, “Dad, I know you think I’m crazy, but I can feel them. I hear theirs Heartbeat. She’s so close”.
The trailer does not make it clear who exactly is meant by “she” here, but the assumption is that it is Dr. Augustine, whose memories and consciousness were absorbed by the Tree of Souls. It is possible that Kiri will therefore go in search of Dr. Augustine – and eventually she too will return to the living, presumably then also in blue Na’vi form.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” starts in German cinemas on December 14th. A third part is currently scheduled to start in December 2024, a fourth in 2026 and a fifth in 2028.
