Avatar 3 To Focus On Villainous Alien Species
James Cameron says Avatar 3 will include a "very negative" Na'vi culture.
James Cameron has already begun mapping out the antagonists of Avatar 3! Much to our surprise, the third installment in the Avatar film series will feature villainous Na’vi, in a stark change of direction from the first two films, which featured invasive and destructive human forces as the main source of conflict. In an interview with 20 Minutes, Cameron had this to say “I want to show the Na’vi in a different light because, so far, I have only shown their good sides. In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na’vi examples. In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite.”
Despite a highly tumultuous 13-year path toward the second installment in the Avatar series, featuring a questionable opening weekend at the box office, a threat to cancel future sequels, and a massive budgeting deficit, it appears as though Disney and James Cameron are moving forward with Avatar 3 after all. The second film’s box office had a slow start at theaters, but ultimately proved to be a successful and profitable venture, and now James Cameron has turned his focus toward the future of the franchise.
Some critics were disappointed that the long-awaited sequel featured the same antagonist as the first film, citing the decision as lazy and repetitive, so this news of inter-species conflict amongst Pandora’s indigenous inhabitants should be one met with excitement.
In the interview, Cameron further elaborated on his plans to introduce new biomes and cultures to the world of Pandora, just as he did with the Metkayina clan of Na’vi who inhabit the world’s reefs and watery depths. In Avatar 3 we can expect to be introduced to a tribe of ash people who live amongst the volcanic mountainside of Pandora, representing fire and ash, much like the fictional Targaryen family line from HBO’s House of the Dragon.
This will be a welcome change to the world of Avatar, as James Cameron seeks to provide further dimensions and depth to the Na’vi race, creating many variations on cultural differences between the advanced race of alien creatures.
James Cameron didn’t outright confirm that the newfound culture of ash people Na’vi would be Avatar 3‘s antagonists, but that seems to be what he’s hinting at. Obviously, the film series has a pattern of taking the audience to new and exciting biomes within the planet of Pandora, and allowing us to see and understand the fictional culture of the planet’s inhabitants, just as the original 2009 Avatar did with the lush forests and Avatar: The Way Of Water continued with the vast oceans.
Avatar 2 seems to rely heavily on themes of a found home and found community, utilizing the peaceful Metkayina tribe to show a welcoming presence within a new space, perhaps we will see an inversion of this theme with the Ash folk, whose fiery nature prevents them from accepting outsiders into their space.
For now, very little is known about the plot of Avatar 3. All we really know, along with this newfound revelation that another culture of Na’vi will be the film’s antagonists, is the expected title and release date. The third film is said to be titled Avatar: The Seed Bearer, though there is no official confirmation yet, and it is expected to arrive in theaters on December 20th, 2024. Obviously, all this is subject to change, as The Way of Water was originally supposed to come out years ago, but James Cameron has assured audiences that subsequent installments in the Avatar series won’t take decades each to produce, so for now, our fingers are crossed.
