Avatar: The Way of Water is scheduled to release in December 2022, with the first trailer for the highly-anticipated sequel featuring the Na'vi seemingly working with the RDA, the enemies of 2009's Avatar. The RDA, or Resources Development Administration, originally occupied Pandora to mine the extremely valuable Unobtanium. Through this, the RDA came into conflict with the Na'vi, the humanoid natives of Pandora, meaning an alliance between the two factions seems unlikely going forward.
However, the first trailer for James Cameron's long-awaited sequel, Avatar 2, shows the Na'vi seemingly working with members of the RDA. Little is known about Avatar 2 at this point other than that the film will focus on Jake Sully and Neytiri's family while shedding light on the oceanic tribes of Pandora. However, what is confirmed is that some of the human members of the RDA will return in the film, including Giovanni Ribisi's Parker Selfridge and Stephen Lang's Colonel Miles Quaritch, which could offer some insight into the alliance between the Na'vi and the RDA in Avatar 2.
Avatar: The Way of the Water could explore this alliance in a few ways. Firstly, some human members were chosen by Jake and the Na'vi to stay on Pandora after the events of Avatar's climactic battle. Following the Na'vi's victory over the RDA, all humans save for a select few, Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Max Patel (Dileep Rao) being among these, were expelled from Pandora and sent back to Earth. Given Avatar 2's place in the franchise timeline, confirmed to take place over a decade after the first film, it is possible that Norm and Max, as well as the other humans permitted to stay on Pandora, helped rebuild the RDA in a way that aligns with the Na'vi's interests. With Jake now a complete part of the Na'vi's culture after his permanent transformation into his avatar body, he, alongside Norm and Max, could be using the new and improved RDA to help the native people of Pandora in several ways, potentially tying into the exploration of Pandora's oceans. However, as mentioned before, some villainous aspects of the company could also return in ways that could equally explain the RDA's apparent change of heart.
James Cameron confirmed that Colonel Miles Quaritch would return as the main antagonist of Avatar 2, despite the character's obvious death in the first film. Cameron would not disclose how Avatar 2 resurrects Lang's character, stating only that it is a science-fiction film. Given the large time jump between Avatar and Avatar 2, it could be possible that Quaritch has been slowly infiltrating the Na'vi and the remnants of the RDA, forming a red herring alliance between the two which could lead to another conflict. Furthermore, Giovanni Ribisi's Selfridge may have returned to Pandora with more resources and firepower to finish what was started in the first movie. This timeline of events would also fit for Avatar 2, given that Avatar stated it takes six years to travel between Earth and Pandora, making a return journey for Parker Selfridge possible.
Another possibility is that Ribisi's character has a change of heart between the events of Avatar and Avatar 2. Despite being one of the main antagonistic presences of the first film, Ribisi's Parker Selfridge was more business-based, with Lang's Quaritch providing the military, more on-the-nose villainous aspect of the RDA. Given this, Selfridge could have changed his views on Pandora and the Na'vi in the decade-long gap between the films, forming a new RDA in the process, which returns to ally with Jake Sully and the Na'vi. However, given the intense secrecy around Avatar 2 and its confirmed sequels, it remains to be seen how the RDA factors into Cameron's latest excursion to Pandora. Whether it be the company changing its ways through the good-natured humans of the first film, or the repercussions of the Na'vi's war with the Earthly company and its operators, it is clear the RDA will return in Avatar: The Way of Water.
