Highlights
- James Cameron's Avatar 3 may address criticism by giving fans more emotional investment in the franchise's characters.
- The film will feature new cultures, creatures, and a deeper moral complexity, evolving in complexity as the series progresses.
- Cameron hints at the introduction of interesting new characters, including a villainous Na'vi leader, promising an epic journey over multiple movies.
James Cameron is already teasing fans with Avatar 3 plot details. Although the film does not yet have a title, the legendary filmmaker seemingly hopes to fix one major criticism of the franchise.
Cameron is famed for his pioneer work in the special effects industry, so it's natural that the technological future of the Avatar franchise was brought up in a recent interview. Instead of revealing what innovation he may have for Avatar 3, the filmmaker tested other aspects of the next film. Namely, he spoke out about the epic narrative that will unfold over the next three films — and promised fans more emotional investment in the franchise's characters.
While evasive about details on Avatar 3's production, Cameron told GQ that the franchise will continue to evolve in complexity. Of course, that means new Na'vi cultures and new creatures in the world of Pandora. However, it also means that the characters (such as the mysterious Kiri, played by Sigourney Weaver) will go through an 'epic cycle' of growth, which may relieve viewers who felt the Avatar films lacked character development.
The big [creative] advance in this movie is just going to be greater character depth. We're seeing new cultures, new creatures—all the same stuff you'd expect from an Avatar movie, but the whole idea of this cycle of films is to live with these people and go on this epic journey with them. So I think it's not about, ‘We're going to show you the best water [VFX] ever done’—but you get more into the heart and soul of the characters. And there's some very interesting new characters that come in as well. This is a journey over time. It will play out through movie three, into movie four and movie five. There's an epic cycle to the whole thing.
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Cameron's hint at the presence of some 'very interesting new characters' was not expanded upon, but several names are attached to future films. Oona Chaplin plays a villainous Na'vi in Avatar 3. Her character is said to be the leader of a tribe of volcanic Na'vi that comes into conflict in some way with the Sully family. Thus far, all Na'vi have been portrayed as relatively heroic and aspirational (Cameron even says the Na'vi are intended to be "that which we used to be, or that which we can maybe still be"), hinting at a deeper moral complexity to come.
There is little doubt that the next Avatar film will be beautiful. Maybe it's for that reason that Cameron chose not to speak too deeply about Avatar 3's special effects and instead focused on discussing character development. Although the franchise has long been praised for its amazing visuals, the series has also been criticized for a lack of character depth and moral simplicity. But, as the next movies in the saga are released, that may be a premature criticism.
Avatar 3 hits theaters on December 19, 2025.
Source: GQ