Rumored titles for all four Avatar sequels may provide insight into what James Cameron's upcoming blockbuster movies will be about - so what are their real meanings? It was recently revealed that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 had wrapped production, and now things are starting to get underway on Avatar 4 and Avatar 5.
It's been a long and arduous journey getting just one sequel into production, but somewhere along the way, Cameron ultimately decided to tell the story of Pandora and the Na'vi in a five-part saga. While it's been confirmed that Avatar 2 will take place underwater, though not for the entire film, very little (if anything) is known about what the other three Avatar sequels will be about. But, thanks to a new report, fans now have at least some idea of what to expect.
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It appears that Cameron is aiming to explore the foundations of Pandora - specifically, the fundamental elements - with each Avatar sequel, and that notion is evidenced in the rumored titles for all four Avatar sequels.
- This Page: The Way of Water & The Seed Bearer
- Page 2: The Tulkun Rider & The Quest for Eywa
Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar 2 is bringing back humans in addition to diving deeper into Na'vi culture, quite literally, too. Rather than just directly continuing the story from the first Avatar movie, the sequel will further explore the underwater spaces of Pandora. As such, a significant amount of time, effort, and money have gone into underwater motion capture, something that the cast and crew, including Sigourney Weaver, have talked about in great lengths.
In that regard, it makes sense that the first sequel would be subtitled The Way of Water. The Na'vi exhibit an intense relationship with the planet of Pandora, which audiences saw quite a bit of in the first Avatar movie. And now, Avatar 2 will introduce moviegoers to a new part of Pandora. Given the sentience (or supposed sentience) of various parts of the planet, it's possible that Avatar 2's title is hinting at Pandora's oceans having some sort of consciousness, but it's more likely that the Na'vi - primarily the Metkayina clan, who are the Na'vi's ocean-based clan - believe the oceans have a heart or soul, and it's something they are attached to.
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Avatar: The Way of Water can have multiple meanings, but putting the spotlight on the Metkayina clan makes the most sense, and it'll give audiences an idea of what to expect from the long-awaited sequel, specifically that it will primarily take place underwater.
Avatar: The Seed Bearer
In the first Avatar movie, the humans - led by Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) - attacked the Tree of Souls in the third act, which ultimately led to the humans' defeat and banishment from Pandora. But, before being exiled, the humans considerably damaged and almost destroyed the tree. While it was still standing towards the end of the movie, that doesn't mean the Na'vi didn't suffer greatly that day. And so, it would seem that going based on the title The Seed Bearer, Avatar 3 may be focused on the Na'vi rebuilding the Tree of Souls.
In the Avatar universe, the woodsprite are seeds that come from the Tree of Souls. They float around Pandora and lay wherever they want, and the Na'vi believe purposefully laying the woodsprite on top of recently deceased Na'vi will guide their soul into the tree. This is something that is at the very core of their culture, which was threatened by the Quaritch in the first Avatar movie. It's possible that the movie will be spent searching for a specific seed/woodsprite to rebuild the Tree of Souls.
Furthermore, the term "bearer" would imply that a certain someone would be responsible for carrying the seed. Who that ends up being remains to be seen, but it wouldn't be far-fetched to say Sam Worthington's Jake Sully could be that person, especially since he's the main lead in the franchise. Plus, there's also the fact that the woodsprites had laid on top of Jake in the first Avatar movie when he met Neytiri.
Page 2 of 2: The Tulkun Rider & The Quest for Eywa
Avatar: The Tulkun Rider
Cameron's first Avatar movie consisted primarily of an aggression between the humans and the Na'vi, which came to a head in the third act. Since the humans are expected to return not only for Avatar 2 but for all four Avatar sequels, with Lang's Quaritch acting as the main villain in each installment, the human versus Na'vi routine can get old fast - it isn't too original, to begin with - so all four Avatar sequels can't only focus on the Na'vi's struggle to survive a potential human invasion and possible occupation. Then, Avatar 4 can possibly be the first movie in the franchise to take the story in an entirely new direction by introducing some sort of monster into the mix.
Related: Avatar 2: How Quaritch Can Return From the Dead
Avatar 4's rumored subtitle, The Tulkun Rider, can be attributed to virtually anything since the term "Tulkun" hasn't been used yet in the Avatar universe. But there are still ways to somewhat determine what Cameron and the rest of the creative team have in mind for Avatar 4. Considering that Cameron tends to borrow heavily from real-life cultures, people, and even stories, it's also possible that the term "Tulkun" can refer to Jake Sully (or someone else) ascending to some form of a high priest or shaman, similar to the Dalai Lama. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tulku refers to someone who is reborn and tasked with passing down specific teachings to a new generation. Perhaps in Avatar 4, the Tulkun Rider is someone in that regard, an ancient being passing down knowledge to the Na'vi. It would be a great transition into Avatar 5.
Avatar: The Quest for Eywa
If a Tulkun Rider does end up referring to someone who's a high priest, even possibly setting up Jake Skully as becoming that person, then it makes sense that Avatar 5 would be about the search for the Pandora goddess Eywa, who is described to Jake in the first Avatar movie as being "made up of all living things." Perhaps somewhere along the way, over the course of the first three Avatar sequels, it becomes evident that Eywa is actually real and that the main characters must embark on a journey to find her. In that case, the Tulkun Rider would be integral to doing just that.
Even though audiences were presented with a great deal of information about Pandora in the first Avatar movie, there's still quite a lot that remains unclear, not to mention a plethora of things that haven't yet been revealed. With four Avatar sequels on the way, Cameron and the rest of the creative team can take their time to introduce audiences to every facet of the planet, including the neurological connection the Na'vi share with it. If the rumored Avatar titles are real, then it would be interesting to see an Avatar movie that's an adventure in the vein of the Indiana Jones movies, rather than a movie that simply explores more of Pandora and the Na'vi, though that itself isn't a bad thing.
