While it may partly be because they got a longer time to prepare for it, that isn’t the explanation that James Cameron shared why Avatar: The Way of Water would have more than three hours of running time, making it a whole lot longer than the first movie. Speaking with Total Film, as reported by GamesRadar, James Cameron reveals, “The goal is to tell an extremely compelling story on an emotional basis. I would say the emphasis in the new film is more on character, more on story, more on relationships, more on emotion.” Cameron added how important the additional time is to expound more on the narrative compared to the first, “We didn’t spend as much time on relationship and emotion in the first film as we do in the second film, and it’s a longer film, because there’s more characters to service. There’s more story to service.”
READ MORE: Avatar: The Way of Water Unveils Official Poster Highlighting The Core Characters
With relationships being central to Avatar: The Way of Water, it will likely see that of Jake Sully and Neytiri especially now that they have a family of their own in Pandora. Not only that, it is also expected to see the blooming love between Lo’ak, son of Jake and Neytiri, and Tsireya. Some conflict may arise with the relationship of Lo’ak and Tsireya as they are from different tribes. Speaking of the children of Neytiri and Jake, their daughter, Kiri, may also form a relationship which only her could understand. As teased in the trailer, she hears a mysterious heartbeat, maybe Eywa or someone else’s?
Sam Worthington will reprise his role Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana will be back as Neytiri in Avatar: The Way of Water. Sigourney Weaver comes back for a new role as Kiri, Stephen Lang suits up as Colonel Miles Quaritch, Kate Winslet plays Ronal, and Cliff Curtis Portrays Tonowari. Other Na’vi characters include CCH Pounder as Mo’at, Jamie Flatters as Neteyam, Britain Dalton as Lo’ak, Trinity Bliss as Tuktirey, Filip Geljo as Aonung, Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo, and Bailey Bass as Tsireya. Vin Diesel and CJ Jones joins the cast in mystery roles. Also included are Jack Champion as Spider, Michelle Yeoh as Dr. Karina Mogue, Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby, Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, Edie Falco as General Ardmore, Jermaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, and Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge. Avatar: The Way of Water comes out in theaters on December 16, 2022.
