Avatar: The Way of Water Stars Say Sequel Is Just as “Groundbreaking” and “Mind-Blowing” as Avatar

Avatar: The Way of Water has the world waiting for its arrival – for reasons both genuine and cynical, alike. The original Avatar arrived in 2009 and changed the entire world of film with its next-level CGI, deep world-building story, and still-unrivaled 3D effects. With that legacy (and the small milestone of Avatar being the highest-grossing film ever) Avatar 2 has any skeptics wondering if James Cameron and his cast can capture the magic all over again. Well, according to Avatar: The Way of Water stars Zoey Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, the sequel will be no less “groundbreaking,” and “mind-blowing” than the original film. 

The returning cast of Avatar 2 (Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang) all sat down with Fandango to talk about The Way of Water, and the question had to be asked: are audiences still going to be blown away like they were by Avatar? 

According to Zoe Saldana, Avatar 2′s underwater 3D is nothing less than a “groundbreaking” culmination of James Cameron’s career-long obsession with oceans and deep sea exploration. And we are not ready: 

“I do believe and my hope is that we’ll have the same reaction that we had for Avatar 1. And that will be more than okay, because that was groundbreaking already as it was,” Saldana explained. “So a continuation of this – it’s almost as if it’s a rediscovery of Pandora, because before we got to see Pandora through the forest, and through the eyes of the Omaticaya Tribe, and now we’re stepping into the world of the Metkayina Na’vi and they are the water people – it is the water world – and I do believe that… this is going to be a like a culmination of Jim finally getting the opportunity to fully share with us all his passion for the water, for the ocean. He’s always had it: he had it with The Abyss, with Titanic, in real life with all of his excursions… And I think that through the Metkayina Tribe and their world, we’re going to immerse ourselves in something that we have never seen before, and it will be also just as groundbreaking as Avatar 1 was.”  

“I think it’s even more mind-blowing than the first one,” Weaver said in follow-up. “Because it’s just such a new element for us as human beings to feel comfortable underwater. And to feel a connection with the creatures that live underwater. It’s very much what I think Jim would dream of if he could create any experience for us – to give us the ability to be underwater without needing to breathe. And he’s given it to us here and in such a breathtaking way. People will never want to leave the theater, honestly. They’ll just want to sit there and see it again and again. Because it’s something you can’t get in real life.” 

Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently wowing audiences with its underwater sequences depicting the secret undersea kingdom of Talocan (ruled by Namor). The proximity of Black Panther 2 and Avatar 2 has certainly kindled the discussion on what The Way of Water will deliver, visually. It’s probably the best sign that the cast still looks somewhat dumbfounded in trying to describe what Cameron has achieved in underwater 3D effects, rather than boastful. Either way, Disney is making big box office off the oceans this holiday season. 

Avatar: The Way of Water will be in theaters on December 16th.