The sequels to James Cameron's Avatar have been a long time coming, and Avatar 3 should move the series away from the world of Pandora. As frequently seen in James Cameron's career, the 2009 release of Avatar was a hit on the most epic scale imaginable. Avatar would eventually break Titanic's record to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. This was even a feat pulled off twice, reclaiming the title in 2020 following a China re-release after having briefly been surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

Avatar takes place on the distant inhabitable moon known as Pandora, populated by the blue-skinned Na'vi people. With the film being a major advancement in visual effects, Avatar became more than just Cameron's latest movie, but an event to be experienced. Following Avatar's success, Cameron began developing the next chapter in the story. As is often the case with his tech-inspired filmography, Cameron's grand ambitions led to it taking years longer than the average blockbuster follow-up.

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Back-to-back filming of Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 officially got underway in 2017. The much-hyped and "mind-blowingAvatar 2 is slated to hit theaters on December 16, 2022, with Avatar 3 to follow on December 20, 2024. Being the first up, Avatar 2 is getting the most immediate attention with the new parts of Pandora it's set to explore. While much less is readily known about Avatar 3, the threequel would be wise to explore another world outside of the landscape of Pandora.

Avatar's Success Has Been Based On World-Building

Pandora's Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar

When Avatar debuted in 2009, it was propelled to colossal success partly by taking audiences to a brand-new, fascinating world. In Avatar, Pandora was brought to life by almost entirely through CGI, and still managed to feel real in every possible sense. The 3D component of Avatar, which Cameron is further adapting for the Avatar sequelswas also the rare instance of being an absolute must to fully appreciate the experience of what Cameron and his team had created. From floating mountains to trees the size of skyscrapers, the forest world of Pandora was one of a kind.

Avatar's Pandora natives the Na'vi were a completely new kind of alien race, standing ten feet tall and able to literally connect to the forest and animals around them with their braids. The truly unique experience of Avatar didn't simply make it the hit of 2009's holiday, but made it a phenomenon long after that. Avatar's success also kickstarted the 3D craze of the next few years, for better or worse. None of that would've been possible without Avatar's unforgettable sights and the experience of Pandora. As the long-awaited Avatar sequels approach, Cameron is showing himself to be well aware of that.

The Avatar Sequels Are Revealing New Sides Of Pandora

Avatar 2 Pandora Storm Concept Art

Avatar ended with the human forces defeated and driven from Pandora, while human protagonist Jake Sully chooses to stay in his Na'vi body. Avatar 2 will reportedly see Jake raising a family with Neytiri, with the human miners returning to Pandora. This forces them to relocate to the sea community of Pandora, which will also introduce a new tribe of Pandora natives known as the Metkayina.

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Since development on the Avatar sequels began, Cameron has emphasized that Avatar 2 is an underwater aquatic adventure exploring a brand-new part of Pandora. Cameron's well-known meticulousness accounts for the long development of the movie. The underwater filming technology of Avatar 2 has also been as heavily emphasized as the advances in CGI and motion-capture of its predecessor. Avatar 2's underwater story is keeping anticipation for the film well-stoked, but, knowing Cameron's appetite for pushing the boundaries of what's possible, it doesn't seem likely to be the franchise's new status quo.

Why Avatar 3 Involving A New World Makes Sense

Zoe Saldana as Neytiri and Sam Worthington as Jake Sully in Avatar

Avatar as a franchise is fundamentally about exploration. As seen in the gradual unveiling of Avatar 2, the series' biggest mandate is about taking audiences from one world to another in each installment. The oceans of Pandora are certainly a world wildly removed from its forests, but it is still ultimately part of the same ecosystem. The ambitious bid of Avatar 3 moving the setting off Pandora altogether would continue what the series does best.

It could also be a major factor in fleshing out the interstellar future of humans first established in Avatar. In it, it showed that the human mining operation sets up on Pandora in pursuit of the mineral Unobtanium. In terms of Avatar's world-building, there's nothing to say that Unobtanium is unique to Pandora. The humans would surely have had to investigate multiple planets to find it, and could have come into contact with other alien races in doing so. Using that as a plot device could easily be one way to take Avatar 3 to another planet, but it's far from the only one.

Avatar 3 could also introduce another alien culture as friends of the Na'vi, and ones in possession of technology similar to that of the humans. This would be the easiest way to take Avatar's ponytailed Na'vi to another planet. It could be even be used as a spiritual quest of sorts with the Na'vi's connection to their goddess Eywa. Fittingly, the Na'vi being the ones to go on an adventure to another world would cement Avatar's staple element of world exploration, doing so with its protagonists for the first time.

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Cameron's plans for the Avatar franchise don't atop with Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are already slated for release in 2026 and 2028, bringing the cumulative budget of the four films to a staggering $1 billion. Cameron himself even conceded in 2017 that a insufficient financial performance by Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 could put an end the franchise proceeding further. Still, with so much of Cameron's career consisting of apparent Hail Marys that leave predictions of doom in the dust, Avatar 2's success seems like a forgone conclusion. However, it's Avatar 3 that will really determine the longevity of the Avatar franchise. With Avatar 2 to take audiences on a trip to the depths of Pandora, Avatar 3 taking the franchise to the stars could keep its thrills and visual splendor as fresh as ever.

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