News from the James Cameron's AVATAR fanbase

Avatar: The Way of Water is here and if you're like us you've already seen it at least twice in theaters. Though there's plenty to discuss in the film (and even more detail to find once the streaming and home video release is finalized later this year), you may also find yourself looking at Avatar 3's projected December 2024 release date with dismay. No need for that! Unlike the content drought between 2009 and 2022, there are an abundant amount of upcoming Avatar media projects to tide you over until 2024. Here's what's next for Avatar leading up to Avatar 3.

Ubisoft Massive's upcoming open-world Avatar RPG is scheduled for release in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which means any time between April of 2023 to March of 2024. Recent rumors have indicated that development is significantly underway, and that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is breaking from traditional Ubisoft RPGs in innovative and exciting ways. We'll be keeping an eye on large game showcases this spring and summer for our next glimpse of what UbiMassive is cooking, but for now here's the in-engine first look that was released in 2021:

Also in the video game category, we have Avatar: Reckoning. Developed by Archosaur Games and published by Level Infinite, Avatar: Reckoning promises to be a large-scale multiplayer experience hand-crafted for mobile devices. Reckoning has already undergone two closed beta tests, but little other information is known about the game at this time- including a release window. Here's the Avatar: Reckoning reveal trailer from June of 2022:

As an organization dedicated to the Na'vi language, we would be remiss if we didn't also mention the updates to the Na'vi language on the horizon. A new Na'vi dialect, developed for the Metkayina reef peoples, has been revealed by Professor Paul Frommer. More details have been promised early this year, and a new dialect promises to radically change the ways that the Na'vi language can be spoken. In a similar manner, CJ Jones' Na'vi sign language will also see expansion during the gap between Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar 3. We already have a number of signs available, but await additional details about the Avatar sign language's grammar and syntax.

With so much Avatar content on its way and Avatar 3 nearly completed, the wait for the next Avatar sequel promises to be much less arduous than the 13 year gap between Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. Of course, if you can't suffer waiting alone then you should check out our Discord server, which is home to Avatar fans from around the world. Come join the conversation or learn Na'vi with us as we tick down the days until December, 2024!

It's no secret that AVATAR 2 has an uphill climb to convince audiences why they should return to James Cameron's mindscape of Pandora in December. With a gap of 13 years between AVATAR (2009) and The Way of Water (2022), even the most engaged audiences have questioned the need for a follow up to the highest grossing film of all time.

The race to convince audiences began this week in earnest, with Empire Magazine revealing a series of exclusive first-looks and character features from The Way of Water. Kate Winslet's Ronal, Sigourney Weaver's Kiri and Stephen Lang's Quaritch took center stage, uncovering a series of major surprises that the legacy sequel has in store for its audiences (can anyone say 'reincarnation'?)

Cameron and Jon Landau know that impressive visuals alone are not going to be enough to sell Avatar this time around. Avatar (2009) is often criticized for its simplistic plot, especially in online conversation. While it may appear that these reveals give too much information about The Way of Water, they definitively show that audiences can expect a more character-driven narrative moving forward.

Take the character Kiri, portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, for example. Kiri appears to be an evolution of Weaver's character Dr. Grace Augustine from Avatar (2009). She has clear ties to Dr. Augustine but is a teenage Na'vi who has been adopted by Jake and Neytiri, the protagonists from the first film.

In the same vein but on the opposite end of the spectrum is Stephen Lang's Quaritch, who has been resurrected as a "recombiant"- a human consciousness permanently embedded in a Na'vi avatar similar to what Jake experienced at the end of Avatar (2009). While the former appears to have no knowledge of her previous life, the latter does- and you'd best believe he's none too happy about it.

​For those who are familiar with Cameron's other works, this method of evolving characters between installments is a key part of his sequel toolbox. It creates a more compelling character dynamic, where characters the audience is familiar with have to grow or change to meet their new circumstances.

For critics of Avatar (2009), this may very well be the best news they can hear.

Fans can rest assured, Cameron is sure to keep enough of the plot a mystery to save more than a few surprises for audiences this December. The Way of Water's production was uncharacteristically free of leaks or spoilers, with only a handful coming to light in the entire 13 years between films. This inspires confidence that Cameron has a vision, and anything shown from The Way of Water​ is meticulously chosen to build excitement for a sequel more than a decade in the making.

Empire Magazine's full feature issue arrives this Thursday, July 7th. Expect more teasers and first look images leading up to the full article and until then, let us know which of these reveals was the most surprising to you! Avatar: The Way of Water arrives on December 16th, only in theaters.

In a surprise piece of news today, @officialavatar revealed that there is another upcoming AVATAR mobile game slated to release later in 2022! Dubbed, "AVATAR: Reckoning", the game is described as a RPG or MMO mobile shooter, depending on where you look. Early concept art for the game places heavy emphasis on the military presence of the RDA on Pandora. Even AVATAR drivers, traditionally more scientist than soldier, are heavily armed in the promotional images, which raises a lot of questions about the setting and plot of the game.

AVATAR: Reckoning is being developed primarily by Archosaur Games and published by Level Infinite, the latter of which is owned by Proxima Beta Pte, the Tencent-owned company behind popular PVP shooter PUBG mobile. The official game synopsis is listed below:

The announcement raises even more questions about the state of AVATAR: Pandora Rising, a player vs. player strategy game that was announced in September of 2019 and entered open beta in October of the same year. Pandora Rising has since been pulled from all app stores, pending a "rework" of the game in preparation for a global release. No further information has been given.

For breaking news and a place to discuss AVATAR: Reckoning in the coming months, join us on Discord.