Avatar 3: James Cameron Confirms Fan-Favorite Character Returning for Sequel

A newcomer to Avatar: The Way of Water is returning for the franchise’s third outing in a couple of years. According to Avatar helmer James Cameron, Kate Winslet’s Ronal will appear in Avatar 3. Not just that, but Winslet’s apparently been putting in some serious, real-world work as she prepares for her role.

“When you see her [Winslet] doing that purification ritual to try to revive Kitty in the film and some of the stuff that she’s going to do in movie three, that’s based on actual practice,” the director said in a new chat with PEOPLE Magazine.

Winslet previously told ComicBook.com the franchise was attractive to her because of the tribal-based storytelling of her character’s underwater tribe.

“He just asked me and I think I admired the first Avatar. Loved it so much in the same way that we all did. And you know, Jim is an incredible writer of strong female roles and he was one of the first to be really doing that,” Winslet explained. “And when he described Ronal to me and said that she was the female, sort of goddess warrior leader of the water tribe, I just thought, I mean, to me, that’s proper sort of music to my ears. So, the idea of playing someone like that who was a leader in that way, the water element was very important to me. I love water. It’s a big part of my life, always has been, and to work with Jim and the other cast, I was just very excited.”

What is Avatar 3 about?

Little is known about Avatar 3, though Cameron previously admitted studio executives had little in the way of notes for the filmmaker after reading the scripts for both the threequel and Avatar 4.

“I can’t tell you the details, but all I can say is that when I turned in the script for 2, the studio gave me three pages of notes,” Cameron explained to Collider. “And when I turned in the script for 3, they gave me a page of notes, so I was getting better. When I turned in the script for 4, the studio executive, creative executive over the films wrote me an email that said, ‘Holy f-ck.’ And I said, ‘Well, where are the notes?’ And she said, ‘Those are the notes.’ Because it kind of goes nuts in a good way, right?”

The first two Avatar films are now streaming on Disney+ while Avatar 3 is still set for release on December 19, 2025.