Avatar: The Way of Water Star Zoe Saldana Calls the Sequel's Release "Nerve-Wracking"

It's hard to believe that a sequel to Avatar is actually on the horizon. Several sequels to James Cameron's record-breaking sci-fi film have been in development for the last decade or so, and their release dates were changed and released so many times that it felt like the films may never actually arrive. Well the first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is hitting theaters in December. The first trailer is arriving with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness this week. The Avatar franchise is officially back, and as exciting as that is, star Zoe Saldana is feeling a little anxious about the fact that it's finally coming out after all this time.

"It's exciting; nerve-wracking," Saldana told EW when asked about the film's release. "Humbling as well, you know – the wait is finally over. And we get to share something that we love so much with so many people that we know love it, too."

Saldana went on to talk about getting into character for her role in Avatar, which takes an entirely different kind of preparation than a role like Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy. The actress spend months training and practicing to get all of her character's movements and actions exactly right.

"They demand a different kind of sacrifice, but they stand very unique on their own subjective grounds," she explained. "Gamora is a much more traditional approach where you wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning and you go through the whole prosthetic process. And then kind of once you see yourself and you feel Gamora on you, obviously, you transform, you know?"

"And when it comes to Neytiri, it's more of a practice," Saldana continued. "It's months of training, not just rehearsing with your director, but training with movement coaches, and traveling to the jungle and getting to feel what it's like to make your own food with all the elements that are around you. And once you use all of that, you do bring it into what we call the volume, which is the set, when you shoot under performance-capture."

Are you excited to finally see what Cameron's Avatar sequels have in store when The Way of Water hits theaters in December? Let us know in the comments!