Avatar: The Way of Water hit theaters thirteen years after the first Avatar and proved to be just as popular with fans, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time. The sequel picks up years later, continuing the saga of Jake, Sully, and Neytiri, who now lead the Omatikaya and have built a family. However, when humans return, including their thought-to-be dead enemy Miles Quartich, the Sully family is forced to flee, finding sanctuary with the Metkayina. When Quaritch continues his hunt for Jake Sully, wiping out whoever and whatever is in his way, the Sully family must step up to stop him and his team in order to protect their family and the Metkayina clan.
Screen Rant participated in a press event to celebrate the digital release of Avatar: The Way of Water. During the event, Jon Landau led a Q&A where he teased that Avatar 3 will explore new Na'vi cultures. Landau also explained that along with new biomes and Na'vi culture, the Metkayina will continue to be an important part of the Avatar story.
Jon Landau: Each movie, we introduce new biomes and new cultures. And because we're introducing new cultures, we have new characters. But just because we're introducing a new one doesn't mean we've lost an old one, they will stay with us. So the sea people, they'll have different roles, the Metkayina, in and out of these stories, but they are a part of the canon that we've created. But we're going to meet at least two new clans in the next movie, culturally, and go on and on as we continue that.
Which Other Could Na'vi Cultures Avatar 3 Introduce?
It seems Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water have only scratched the surface of the Na'vi and Pandora, introducing the Omatikaya and the Metkayina. The third installment will introduce at least two new Na'vi cultures and likely Pandora biomes, with each culture adapting to a different type of environment and building their customs around their homes. Landau's comment about the Metkayina's story continuing is also notable, especially after the Omatikaya were largely absent after the Sully family left.
James Cameron has teased the Ash People, who represent the fire Na'vi in Avatar 3. He hinted at exploring a darker side of the Na'vi after portraying them positively in the first two Avatar films. This could mean that the harsher environment that the Ash Na'vi are from, perhaps near active volcanoes, may have created a more harsh Na'vi culture. The Omatikaya and Metkayina were largely isolated, each having heard of the other, but it didn't seem like they had ever been connected before the Sully family.
If the Ash Na'vi are meant to show a darker side of the Na'vi, this could mean that they actively attack not just humans but other Na'vi as well, thus causing some of these cultures to stay isolated even as their planet is ravaged. How exactly these new cultures and biomes will come into play remains a mystery, especially after the Sully family accepted their place among the Metkayina. Perhaps Jake is trying to build an army to fight off the humans who have decided to take Pandora by force in Avatar 3.
Avatar: The Way of Water will be available exclusively to purchase on Digital March 28.
