Only James Cameron could begin an interview by promising not to diss the Marvel or DC Universes, and proceed to do that very thing a few seconds later!
The Avatar: The Way of Water director was speaking to ComicBook.com about his upcoming sequel, when he was asked a question about the VFX used to bring the Na'vi to life on screen and whether any of the technical wizardry we see in Marvel films (and the comic book movie world) have motivated him to "raise the bar."
“Our team at WETA Digital is constantly having new hires, and it’s coming out of that pool,” Cameron began. “So it improves everything. That said, WETA Effects, as it’s called now, is the best. Right? Industrial Light & Magic does great work, but when it comes to the kind of emotive facial stuff that we’re doing… Thanos? Come on. Give me a break. You saw [‘Avatar: The Way of Water’]. It’s not even close. It’s what WETA did.”
In all fairness, that question must have been like a red rag to a bull for a guy like Cameron, so we're not remotely surprised by his response.
Is he right? Well, this is obviously just his personal opinion, but as impressive a creation as Josh Brolin's Mad Titan was in the last two Avengers movies, we're sure many would agree that the original Avatar still holds up as one of the most visually astounding films of the past few decades - so we can only imagine what the sequel holds in store.
The social media reactions to The Way of Water have been highly positive, but that was to be expected. The full review embargo lifts next Tuesday, so we should get a better idea of what to expect when critics are able to share more in-depth takes on the sequel.