James Cameron’s beautiful mega-hit Avatar is still the highest-grossing movie of all time more than a decade later, and our return to Pandora in the long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water shows that this is just the beginning of Cameron’s bigger, bolder plans, and we’re eager to figure them out before the next installment is released in two years.

Plans for sequels began almost immediately after the success of the first Avatar, with Cameron becoming the mastermind behind the franchise, committing to five whole films of directing, writing, and producing to transfer a vision from his mind to the screen. Keeping track of over a thousand pages of notes, he has shown serious dedication to Pandora even after thirteen years of delays and frustrations. Finally able to continue the story again, Cameron has used The Way of Water to lay the foundations for the overarching story of the Sully family. While it does tell a contained tale, the movie teases what’s to come with its dramatic climax. Where’s how we think Avatar: The Way of Water sets up the sequel Avatar 3.

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Will Quaritch Have Redemption?

     20th Century Fox

Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is the antagonist of Avatar, set on conquering untainted Pandora for the plundering RDA, and hoping to get revenge on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family along the way for stopping him the first time and killing him too. There is not much to like about a villain like this, but Quaritch is human, which means he has good parts along with bad parts. He also has a son, named Spider.

Spider (Jack Champion) was left behind on Pandora after the RDA were defeated in the first Avatar film, being a baby and unable to enter cryostasis, so he was raised by Jake into the Na’vi culture. Early in The Way of Water, Quaritch saves Spider’s life when Ney’tiri (Zoe Saldaña) had a knife to his throat, and afterward spends most of the movie with his son due to kidnapping him. During the climactic third act, Jake defeats Quaritch and leaves him unconscious underwater. When it seems like the villain has met his end again, Spider saves him. Despite everything Quaritch has done and wants to do, Spider saw him as worth saving, which means Quaritch might be redeemable, in the same way Luke Skywalker knew Darth Vader could be saved when no one else did.

This might not happen in the next Avatar, but Cameron plays the long game and could create a more complex character and lead to a great character redemption.

All-Out War Between Humans and The Na’vi

     Lightstorm Entertainment

We learn that humanity is becoming desperate at this point, with the Earth becoming increasingly uninhabitable and seeking to relocate to Pandora. After losing twice now, the RDA will likely resort to even more extreme measures to take the plentiful planet.

Jake and his family are adopted by the Metkayina, the ocean-dwelling tribe of Na’vi. He led the tree-dwelling Omaticaya tribe during the fourteen years between the films, trying to keep Quaritch away from his people. At the end of Way of Water, Jake says “I can’t keep my family safe by running,” meaning there’s no chance they can just slip out of the conflict. He goes on to say that “this is our home…this is our fortress,” and won’t leave the Metkayina like he did the Omaticaya. The Sullys aren’t going anywhere.

Being the middle movie, the next Avatar might act like a mid-season finale, with high stakes and lots of action as the RDA and the Na’vi go head-to-head, which is the perfect time for Cameron to expand and change things for the other sequels.

The Connection Between Kiri and Eywa

     20th Century Studios

Kiri is the biggest mystery set up in The Way of Water, and will most likely have the most impact throughout all the films. Her powers to influence nature and control animals were revealed near the end of the film, which stems from Eywa, the connecting force of all life on Pandora and revered as a deity.

The possible title for the sequel revealed by Cameron is The Seed Bearer, most likely in reference to the essence seeds of the Tree of Souls, a tree with a deep connection to Eywa, which enhances Kiri’s ability and even allows her to meet her dead mother. The fifth and (probably not) final Avatar film, rumored to be titled The Quest for Eywa, allows us to surmise that Kiri’s powers and herself are going to become extremely important to the franchise as a whole, and we can expect in Avatar 3 that Kiri will be exploring her powers and testing her limits.

James Cameron is certainly planning a lot, and it will spill over into his other Avatar installments as this franchise becomes a saga when Cameron waves his brushstrokes across the films, and we just have to wait until we can see the full and completed masterpiece.