No./4 Where next for Pandora?
In a world exclusive, The Way Of Water producer Jon Landau tells us what to expect from Avatar 3
The titanic finale of Avatar: The Way Of Water had it all: a tragic death, an unexpected father-son rescue, and an obnoxious Australian shouting, “Get wet!” But for all the revelations — tulkun points, if you will — it also provides big clues to the future of the series. And with the film fast-approaching $2 billion at the box office at the time of going to press, it’s safe to say that fans are invested in that future.
“Hopefully, The Way Of Water came to its own conclusion, as I think each movie will,” says producer Jon Landau. “But they do set things up because we get more and more invested in these characters. Where does Kiri [Sigourney Weaver] go? What is Lo’ak [Britain Dalton] up to? What decisions will Jake [Sam Worthington] and Neytiri [Zoe Saldaña] have to make? All of those things will continue to drive our story.”
Overhanging the family is the death of the Sullys’ eldest son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters). “I thought it was classic Jim just to do the unconventional,” says Landau about Neteyam’s demise. “They come together as a family, but they now have to live with the guilt one might feel as a parent or as a sibling. Zoe did such a phenomenal job in that [death] scene. How long does that loss stay with her as a mother? How do you overcome that?”
Yet perhaps the biggest emerging story-question lies in Kiri’s ability to manipulate nature as she summons sea creatures to rescue Neytiri and her sister Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). “I don’t think going into that moment [Kiri] knew she could do that,” says Landau. “But she did it. Going forward, how does this awkward 14-year-old girl come to terms with that?”
Landau won’t be drawn on the mystery of who Kiri’s father is — if there indeed is one — but is more forthcoming on the film’s other daddy issue: Spider (Jack Champion) wrestling with the discovery he is the son of Marine-turned-avatar Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). “Spider has never really had a family and he’s been searching for that. In Quaritch 2.0, he can’t help but see a father he never knew, a kindred spirit. When Spider saves him, it was not an easy decision. He’s really torn inside so we used the one F-word we’re allowed.” It’s also possible Quaritch’s relationship with Spider will bring about a transformation in Avatar’s Big Bad. “What can he learn from Spider?” suggests Landau. “Does he start to see Pandora differently? Jake did.”
Expect Quaritch’s employers, the RDA, led by Edie Falco’s General Ardmore, to continue making Pandora a new home for humanity — “Way Of Water was Quaritch’s vendetta but Ardmore’s or the RDA’s goals have not changed” — and Brendan Cowell’s already iconic oceanic hunter Mick Scoresby will return, despite losing an arm, to bark orders at minions. Happily, the heart-stealing tulkun Payakan will remain a fixture. “We view Payakan as a character, not just as a creature,” says Landau. “We will continue to explore his relationship with Lo’ak.”
But just as Cameron and Landau are bringing characters, creatures and tech from film to film, they are also introducing new locales and clans. In Part 3, we will meet the Ash People, an aggressive, volcanic race of people led by Varang, played by Game Of Thrones’ Oona Chaplin. Part 3 flips the script, presenting the Na’vi for the first time as antagonists, with the ‘sky people’ couched in a more positive light. For Landau it goes further.
“There are good humans, and there are bad humans — the same thing on the Na’vi side — but oftentimes, people don’t see themselves as bad. What is the root cause of how they evolve into what we perceive as bad? Maybe there are other factors there that we’re not aware of.” After a big time-jump in Avatar 4, the final film will come to Earth. The series’ only previous glimpse of our planet has been in deleted scenes from the first film, presenting it as a stark dystopia. “There’s over-population, and a depletion of our natural resources that make life harder,” confirms Landau. “But we don’t want to paint a bleak picture for where our world is going. The films are also about the idea that we can change course.”
Wherever the series goes, one larger-than-life figure won’t be making an appearance. Vin Diesel, long mooted to have a role in the saga, will not join the cast. “Vin was a fan,” reveals Landau. “He came in, visited the set one day to see what we were doing and people took that out of context.” It’s perhaps for the best. How many families can one man belong to?
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER IS IN CINEMAS NOW
