The character Jake Sully has been the narrator of both the first Avatar (watch it HERE) and the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water (read our review HERE), but now franchise mastermind James Cameron has revealed that he is losing his narration job as of Avatar 3, which is set to reach theatres on December 20, 2024. During an interview on Soundtracking With Edith Bowman, Cameron gave away the fact that the narrator of the next sequel is the son of Jake Sully and Neytiri, Lo’ak. As the franchise goes on with Avatar 4 (scheduled to reach theatres on December 18, 2026) and Avatar 5 (a December 22, 2028 release), each film will have a different narrator.
Cameron said (with thanks to Variety for the transcription), “I’m going to take a moment when the dust clears to assess what people loved [about Avatar: The Way of Water] and what they responded to the most, and then I may go back and tinker a little bit [with Avatar 3]. We may go back and do a couple of moments here and there. It won’t be radical, but maybe fine-tune it a bit to emphasize that which people are responding to. For example, Lo’ak really emerged as a character that people went with. So I might find ways to…he’s already the narrator. I’m giving away something here, but this is okay. I think it could be intriguing for people to think about what’s coming. Jake was our voiceover narrator for movie one and for movie two, and we have a different narrator for each of the subsequent films. We see it through the eyes of a different character. Movie three is through Lo’ak’s eyes.“
Cameron previously revealed that Avatar 3 will introduce a “fire tribe” of Na’vi called the Ash People, who will show the negative side of the Na’vi. Jack Champion – who can be seen playing the character Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water – has said that he was “very shocked” by the script for Avatar 3. “It just takes a hard left turn, and that’s not a bad thing. You think you know where it’s going, but then a wrecking ball comes. So you’re completely like, ‘Oh wow, I never thought that would’ve happened.’ You also see more regions of Pandora, and you get introduced to more cultures.“
Beyond Avatar 3, Cameron has said that Avatar 4 will “go nuts in a good way” and that his response from a studio executive when he sent in the script for that one was just two words: “Holy f*ck.” Champion says he understands why it got that reaction: “Oh man, I can’t say exactly why, but that story is pretty amazing and pretty dark.“ Producer Jon Landau has let it slip that Avatar 5 will send characters, including Pandora native / Na’vi heroine Neytiri, on a journey to Earth.
Are you looking forward to seeing Avatar 3 through the eyes of new narrator Lo’ak, and to finding out who will be narrating the future sequels? Let us know by leaving a comment below.