A new image for Avatar: The Way of Water reveals a closer look at Pandora's underwater whale-like creature. Director James Cameron returns to the fictional planet for the sequel, which reunites much of the cast from the 2009 original, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, and Joel David Moore. Newcomers to the series include Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder, Oona Chaplin, and Edie Falco.
In addition to new cast members, Avatar: The Way of Water will also feature a host of new creatures, many of them waterborne. As in the first film, the local Na'vi live harmoniously with many of the creatures on the planet and the sequel will be no different, albeit with some new species, including skimwings, which are used by the Metkayina tribe as military mounts. Another new creature in the film is the whale-like tulkun, which is glimped a few times in the first trailer for Avatar 2, but not seen in great detail.
A new image from Avatar: The Way of Water (via Avatar/Empire) gives the most-detailed look yet at the tulkun, which looks very similar to a whale on Earth, but with some differences. The tulkun has two eyes, one large, one small, both with an orange tint and has a more curvaceous form overall in comparison to the real-world counterpart. Producer Jon Landau previously described the creatures as "300 feet long" and said they are "a sentient species and as intelligent in their own way as the Na’vi are in theirs." The first trailer for the film showed Jake Sully (Worthington) swimming alongside a tulkun peacefully, highlighting their harmonious relationship in the new setting, which appears to be the scene where the still image is derived from. Check out the new image below:
Cameron has been hard at work on Avatar: The Way of Water for many years, shooting it back-to-back with Avatar 3, which will make its debut in 2024. It's interesting to note that Cameron confirmed the rumored working titles of the sequels at CinemaCon earlier this year, one of which is Avatar: The Tulkun Rider, which makes this new image reveal even more interesting, especially since it appears that Jake Sully may well be "The Tulkun Rider" in question. Cameron has not confirmed which of those titles fits with which film, so it remains to be seen when the tulkun-themed title will take place in the planned series of films, which are currently set to have four sequels in total.
Having new creatures in Avatar: The Way of Water was always a foregone conclusion and setting them in a water-based environment is a clever and tricky shift from the mostly land and airborne creatures of the first film. It ultimately serves to take the sequel in a new direction, which could be just what the franchise needs to start fresh with audiences after a 13-year absence. Cameron's technological achievements are always at the forefront of his work and dealing with the challenge water-based creatures and environments creates a landscape the filmmaker can thrive in, as he's proven throughout his career, especially in films like The Abyss and Titanic, proving no environment is too difficult for him to master.
