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Movie maker James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water isn’t the last time audiences are set to visit the world of Pandora. The Oscar-winning filmmaker has big plans for the film’s sequels going forward, some of which he was willing to share with others.

What to expect from ‘Avatar 3’

Cameron already knows the general direction he plans on taking the Avatar series in the third film. The director confided that the world of Pandora will be further explored, but with a new voice as a guide in the upcoming sequel. Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully ended up narrating The Way of Water. The sequel will be narrated by Britain Dalton’s Lo’ak. The change of narrators will be a common theme in the upcoming Avatar pictures.

“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 once said according to Variety.

Cameron also teased that Avatar 3 will explore the Na’vi’s cultural diversity a little further.

“The fire will be represented by the ‘Ash People.’ I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides,” Cameron said. “In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na’vi examples. In Avatar 3, we will do the opposite. We will also explore new worlds, while continuing the story of the main characters.”

‘Avatar 3’ could’ve been the last film in the franchise if ‘The Way of Water’ wasn’t a success

Apart from the gap between the two movies, Cameron also remarked that the new cinematic landscape could also work against the film.

“We’re in a different world now than we were when I wrote this stuff, even,” Cameron said to Total Film. “It’s the one-two punch – the pandemic and streaming. Or, conversely, maybe we’ll remind people what going to the theatre is all about. This film definitely does that. The question is: how many people give a s*** now?”

Because of the second film’s high budget, this meant The Way of Water would’ve had to join the $2 billion club.

“You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even,” he said in an interview with GQ.

Fortunately, The Way of Water would achieve all of that and more, clearing the way for Cameron to develop all five Avatar movies.

How James Cameron felt about ignoring other potential stories in favor of the ‘Avatar’ series

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Cameron has told a wide range of cinematic stories during his time directing. But with him devoting most of his focus to Avatar, he won’t be able to work on perhaps other ideas he may have. This didn’t bother Cameron, however, who believed the Avatar series allowed him to channel all of his ideas already.

“Two thoughts in answer to your question,” he answered on an Empire Q & A. “The first is that the world of Avatar is so sprawling that I can tell most of the stories I want to tell within it and try many of the stylistic techniques that I hope to explore. And secondly, yes… our time as artists is finite. I will always mourn some of the stories that I don’t get to make.”

But he also asserted that he’s eager to see what other filmmakers could do with the ideas he has to shelve due to Avatar. Like with Robert Rodriguez’s Battle Angel.

“I feel a great satisfaction when other directors want to explore some of my ideas, like Kathryn Bigelow did with Strange Days, and Robert Rodriguez did when I passed him the baton on Alita: Battle Angel. I look forward to more collaborations in the future with directors I admire.”

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