The Next Avatar Movies Will Each Have Different Narrators, Starting With Lo'ak
Upon hearing the prospect of not just one but four more "Avatar" films in our future, there were many cynical people online (shocking, I know) who wondered whether or not there could even be enough story to warrant that many films, let alone whether or not people even wanted to see another film in the series. Well, considering that "Avatar: The Way of Water" is on its way to passing $2 billion worldwide pretty soon, obviously people are still into the world of Pandora.
As for where the story can go, James Cameron has devised a structure for the series that will allow it to evolve and remain fresh with each subsequent movie. Sam Worthington's Jake Sully was the narrator of the first two "Avatar" films, but he will not remain in that position going forward. James Cameron (accidentally) revealed on an episode of the Soundtracking podcast that Jake's son Lo'ak, played by Britain Dalton, will take over narration duties on the third film, serving as the eyes for which we see the story.
For those who find Jake Sully to be a boring character — and I know there are a lot of you out there — this should come as a great relief to you, though I will miss the dulcet tones of Sam Worthington's odd Australian-Brooklyn fusion accent taking us through the story. Lo'ak showed he could be the backbone of one of the more emotional storylines in "The Way of Water" in his relationship with the tulkun Payakan, and I am interested to see him take a more central role. However, he will not be the narrator of the entire series going forward. Cameron also revealed that each forthcoming picture will have a different narrator, which really intrigues me.
When is the Kiri movie?
As much as I found Lo'ak to be a fairly compelling character in "Avatar: The Way of Water," the movie I am waiting for will be the one seen through the eyes of Sigourney Weaver's Kiri, the seemingly immaculately conceived daughter of Weaver's Dr. Grace Augustine (her character from the first film) who has been adopted by Jake and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). This is the character with the most questions that need to be answered, and Weaver's performance of a teenager trying to figure herself out is actually quite beautiful.
If I had to guess, based on the supposed titles of the future movies, we may not get Kiri's movie until the fifth film, which is said to be called "The Quest for Eywa." Because Kiri can obviously tap into the spirit of Eywa and has the ability to command Pandora's environment and creatures to her will, I imagine she will be the one most keen on getting to the bottom of Eywa. Then again, the fourth film is supposed to be called "The Tulkun Rider," which fits Lo'ak perfectly based on what we saw him do in "The Way of Water." So, I could be off-base in my assumption. Regardless of what happens, the Kiri movie is the one I am most excited about, but I will happily take the Lo'ak film next. I trust James Cameron.