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Disney reveals new footage for Avatar: The Way of Water at the D23 Expo. The highly anticipated sequel to James Cameron's 2009 hit Avatar, The Way of Water will pick up where fans left off with Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). Sigourney Weaver, whose character Dr. Grace Augustine was killed in Avatar, will also star in the film as Jake and Neytiri's adoptive teenage daughter.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting a return to the Avatar franchise since the sequel faced many delays and a long uphill battle before its eventual creation. The first trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water was finally released earlier this year, promising a lush and visually arresting return to the alien world of Pandora. While the trailer didn't reveal much about the film's storyline, it's clear based on the footage and marketing that the film will revolve around the family that Jake and Neytiri have built in the years since the original film.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
During Saturday's D23 presentation, Disney and 20th Century revealed new footage for Avatar: The Way of Water. While it was not released to the public, Screen Rant was on hand to get a description of the new scenes. The footage begins with a long sequence of the Sully family swimming underwater and gazing at the fish and plant life. An old recording of Sigourney Weaver's previous character Dr. Grace Augustine then discusses her research with the bio system of Pandora, explaining that it seems to be aware and capable of cognitive response. At the same time, kids joke about who knocked her up. Spider, Jake and Neytiri's son, gets grumpy and says, “Sometimes it’s better to not know who your father is.” Another character (a female Na’vi who sounds like an adult) says, “You are not him.” The scene then shifts to a rainy forest, with the characters hunting. They are listening for something, and it turns out to be a group of soldiers trying to grab some of the kids. Neytiri shoots them with arrows, and it becomes a firefight with them mockingly calling her Mrs. Sully. Neytiri and Sully then argue about how to protect their family and where they can go. The kids hide and listen, and Sully says, "This family is our fortress," before hugging Neytiri. Later, some kids are being chastised for “bonding with the outcast”; said person is an outcast because they are a killer. Elsewhere, a child is learning to ride a beautiful sea creature.
The footage description seems to confirm that Avatar: The Way of Water will center on Jake and Neytiri's family and their dynamics with their children. Other interesting threads in the footage description are the appearance of Dr. Grace Augustine's archived recordings detailing her research, which will perhaps foreshadow the plot of the film. The contrast between the violence the Na'vi face from humans and the peaceful beauty of their home world continues and builds on the plot and themes of Avatar. Based on the footage description, Avatar: The Way of Water will be big on ambiance and feature a moving interrogation of the bonds between the family members and their home.
The sequel film has huge shoes to fill, with the original movie garnering a historic $2.8 billion in the box office. James Cameron has also confirmed multiple sequels to follow Avatar: The Way of Water, so this film will be a crucial re-introduction to Pandora for moviegoers and will predict the success of the films that will follow it. Hype has been high around Avatar: The Way of Water announcements, which will hopefully translate to success in the box office. Ahead of Avatar: The Way of Water's late December release, viewers can catch up with Jake and Neytiri's story in theaters via Avatar's re-release starting September 23rd.