Vin Diesel Will Not Be Part Of The Biggest Franchise Of All Time
Vin Diesel will not be joining the cast of Avatar 3.
Despite heavily indicating he had landed a role in at least one of James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels, Vin Diesel will not be joining the epic sci-fi franchise. According to Movie Web (via Empire), producer Jon Landau confirmed the Fast and Furious star is just “a fan.” He explained the actor simply “visited the set” of Avatar: The Way of Water and “people took that out of context.”
Rumors of Vin Diesel being cast in the Avatar series began in 2019 after the 55-year-old star shared a video to his Instagram page with director James Cameron from the set of The Way of Water. In his caption, Diesel heaped praise on the filmmaker, insisting he has always wanted to collaborate with him on a project. The post ignited seemingly countless headlines containing language that speculated the Riddick star had nabbed a role in the blockbuster series.
Of course, Vin Diesel did little to put out the rumors he ignited with his Instagram post. Shortly after he shared the video from the set of The Way of Water, he flat out told Entertainment Tonight that he would be “doing Avatar” because of his close relationship with franchise actress Zoe Saldaña. The two stars previously worked together on Guardians of the Galaxy and its 2017 sequel.
In June 2021, Vin Diesel further fueled speculation about his involvement with the Avatar series. During an appearance on MTV News, he confessed his love for both the franchise and James Cameron. He went on to say, “I think it’s safe to say that we will be working together.”
The news that Vin Diesel will not be landing on Pandora in a future Avatar sequel is undoubtedly disappointing to fans who were looking forward to the star adding another mega-franchise to his resume. Fortunately, he’s got plenty of other high-profile projects to keep him busy. This year alone, he’ll return to voice Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before reprising his role as Dominic Toretto in Fast X.
Once again directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will serve as the final entry in Marvel’s wildly popular superhero series. In addition to Vin Diesel and Avatar alum Zoe Saldaña, the long-awaited sequel stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Sylvester Stallone, and Sean Gunn. The film is set to be released on May 5.
Meanwhile, the tenth installment in the explosive Fast and Furious series will see Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew forced to seek help in their fight against Cipher (Charlize Theron) when she recruits Dante (Jason Momoa), a mysterious new adversary. The sequel, which was directed by Louis Leterrier, arrives in theaters May 19. It’ll be interesting to see if the film’s box office figures can come anywhere close to the numbers Avatar: The Way of Water has put up.
Further out, Vin Diesel is also expected to return in sequels for both his xXx franchise and his long-running Riddick series. With so many projects on his plate, it’s a wonder he would even have the time to work on a movie as demanding as Avatar. While we’re certainly hoping he and James Cameron will team up for a project somewhere down the line, it’s not likely something that’s going to happen any time soon.
