James Cameron appeared on screen at D23 to introduce the main cast of Avatar: The Way of Water, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver. Thousands of 3D glasses were then handed out so the audience could watch the first scenes from Avatar: The Way of Water.
As you might expect with James Cameron, the 3D was mind-blowing, with the underwater scenes looking exceptionally crisp. The high-frame rate was said to be a little jarring, but it’s one of those things you get used to as it goes on. About twelve minutes of footage was screened, with the first clip showcasing the Sully family having fun underwater. The second focused on Sigourney Weaver’s new character, a young Na’vi named Kiri, who is Jake and Neytiri’s daughter. Weaver played Dr. Grace Augustine in the first Avatar movie, and it seems that Kiri will have some connection to her. The clip found Kiri referring to Grace as her mother, but some of her siblings wonder who her father is. The rest of the footage found Jake and Neytiri fighting to get their kids back from a resurrected Quaritch and his men, meeting the Metkayina clan at the reef, and more. All in all, it sounds like we’re in for another visually spectacular movie from James Cameron.
It doesn’t sound as though any of that Avatar: The Way of Water footage will be available for anyone who wasn’t in attendance at D23, but if you’re hungry for more Avatar on the big screen, you won’t have long to wait. It was announced last month that the nearly remastered original would be returning to theaters for two weeks starting on September 23rd. As it’s been well over a decade since it was originally released, there’s basically an entire generation who never got to see the movie on the big screen.
Avatar: The Way of Water will hit theaters on December 16, 2022, followed by Avatar 3 on December 20, 2023, Avatar 4 on December 18, 2026, and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028.