In 2009, James Cameron released Avatar upon the world. The story of a futuristic soldier embodying a tall blue alien and assimilating himself into their society, only to realize that plundering the natural resources of a civilization is wrong, captivated audiences across the globe, not so much for its obvious environmentalist message, but because its visual effects were truly groundbreaking.
Before too long, Avatar was the highest-grossing movie of all time, toppling the previous record-holder, Cameron’s own Titanic. For years, Cameron has been working on Avatar sequels – with four reported to be in varying stages of development or production – but they’re not a particularly exciting prospect.
Not Excited: It’s Been More Than A Decade Since Avatar Came Out
Today’s audiences have very short attention spans. The Star Wars sequels were released two years apart. With a couple of exceptions (and more to come, thanks to COVID-19), each of the MCU’s solo sequels have been released within three years of their predecessors.
It’s been over a decade since Avatar hit theaters. If the first sequel had met its projected release date of 2015, it still would’ve been cutting it a little fine. It’s been so long that audiences forgot about Avatar a long time ago.
Cameron Can Surprise Us: He Made Two Of The Greatest Sequels Of All Time
There aren’t many good sequels out there. The best that one can hope for when a sequel comes out is that it won’t completely pale in comparison to the original. But there are some sequels that lived up to their predecessors and rank among the greatest movies ever made.
James Cameron is responsible for two of the greatest sequels of all time – Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day – so the Avatar sequels really couldn’t be in better hands than those of the franchise’s creator.
Not Excited: The Novelty Of The Effects Has Worn Off
What made Avatar a huge success in 2009 wasn’t its soft remake of Pocahontas or its forgettable, one-dimensional characters. It’s pretty obvious what drew audiences to theaters: its brand-new visual effects technologies.
The inflated IMAX 3D ticket prices also helped it to become the highest-grossing movie ever made. Now that breathtaking CGI is in basically every blockbuster, the novelty of those effects has worn off.
Cameron Can Surprise Us: New VFX Technologies
Although the novelty of Avatar’s effects has worn off, Cameron is developing new VFX technologies for the sequels, so he can pull off the exact same gambit again.
One of the reasons the first sequel was delayed so much is because the technology wasn’t there to do motion-capture shooting underwater and the sequel will explore the oceans of Pandora. Expanding the worldbuilding is also a pretty cool idea.
Not Excited: The First One Was Nothing Special
Outside of the technical innovations made by the movie’s visual effects, Avatar was nothing particularly special. It was jokingly called “Dances with Smurfs” for taking the basic plot of Dances with Wolves and replacing the wolves with blue-skinned aliens.
If it hadn’t been for the groundbreaking effects, which will only get a moviemaking enterprise so far, Avatar would’ve just been regarded as another blockbuster.
Cameron Can Surprise Us: Interesting Storytelling
If Cameron has planned the Avatar saga up to its fifth entry, then he must have some pretty exciting storylines in store. The first one had to tell its own story in case there was never a sequel, hence the conventional formula.
With a four-movie sandbox to play in, Cameron has the freedom to tell some interesting serialized stories. Maybe each sequel will end with a tantalizing cliffhanger teasing the next one.
Not Excited: Marvel Has Stolen Avatar’s Thunder
In the decade since Avatar hit theaters, Marvel has dominated multiplexes. Last year, Avengers: Endgame fulfilled its destiny and toppled Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time.
The competition posed by Marvel excites Cameron, but that doesn’t mean Avatar has any chance of dethroning the Avengers.
Cameron Can Surprise Us: He Does His Best Work Against Insurmountable Odds
The first Avatar movie became the highest-grossing movie of all time. The slew of sequels not only has to revitalize moviegoers’ interest to somewhere near that level; they have to do it consistently enough to keep audiences coming back again and again.
But James Cameron has always done his best work against insurmountable odds. Hollywood insiders expected both Titanic and Avatar to fail, and they both became the highest-grossing movie ever made.
Not Excited: There Are Plenty Of More Exciting Sequels Headed Our Way
While there’s a slim chance that the Avatar sequels will turn out to be awesome, there are plenty more sequels with a firmer guarantee of quality.
These include F9, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Matrix 4, Mission: Impossible 7, Deadpool 3, the back-to-back fourth and fifth John Wick movies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Halloween Kills, the untitled Chicken Run follow-up, Coming 2 America, The Suicide Squad, Twilight of the Mallrats, and the next Benoit Blanc mystery after Knives Out. With all those movies coming out, it’s hard to get excited about Avatar 2.
Cameron Can Surprise Us: He Has A Lot More Hits Than Misses
Like most directors, James Cameron doesn’t have a 100% hit rate. He’s had both critical and commercial failures throughout his career, from the lukewarm box office reception of The Abyss to the negative reviews met by the Cameron-produced Terminator: Dark Fate.
But Cameron has had a lot more hits than misses. Surely he has enough masterpieces and box office hits under his belt to earn the trust of moviegoing audiences.
