Avatar: The Way of Water spent only a few minutes with the first movie's forest-dwelling Omatikaya clan, instead shifting the action to Pandora's oceans.
That meant getting to see what life was like for Jake and Neyteri as part of the newly introduced Metkayina clan, while filmmaker James Cameron was presented with the opportunity to make a statement about the world's oceans.
Avatar 3 has already been shot and is expected to introduce a group of Na'vi dubbed the Ash People, though it's become clear that won't be the only new part of Pandora we get to explore in the planned sequels (Cameron has already shot the fourth movie's opening).
Franchise producer Jon Landau recently shared a new photo (via SFFGazette.com) from the threequel's set and it includes a glimpse at a finished scene involving Jake and a mystery character.
While it's possible that's Kiri or even Neytiri (albeit rocking a new look), there's some speculation about this being Oona Chaplin's Varang, a member of the threequel's mysterious fire tribe currently known as the Ash People. In the background, we also catch sight of Spider...sans breathing mask!
"Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect," Landau says. "The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025."
We recently learned that Avatar 3 has shifted its release date to December 19, 2025. As a result, Avatar 4 moves to December 21, 2029, with Avatar 5 now taking aim at a December 19, 2031 release.
Take a closer look at this sneak peek in the Tweet below alongside our recent interview with Production Designer Ben Procter.