James Cameron’s Avatar was the highest-grossing movie of all time before Avengers: Endgame came and took the top spot. Now Cameron is set to come back with an Avatar sequel, and he says it’s a way to rebuke the modern comic book genre.
Talking to GQ, Cameron says The Way of Water seeks to be a different kind of blockbuster by putting the focus on family. He explains:
“I was consciously thinking to myself, Okay, all these superheroes, they never have kids. They never really have to deal with the real things that hold you down and give you feet of clay in the real world.”
Of course, fans were quick to point out online that characters like Ant-Man and Iron Man had kids in the films, but it looks like Cameron is really putting the children in a central part of the story—not just mcguffins for the protagonist to objectify. Cameron continues:
“What do two characters who are warriors, who take chances and have no fear, do when they have children and they still have the epic struggle?… Their instinct is to be fearless and do crazy things. Jump off cliffs, dive-bomb into the middle of an enemy armada, but you’ve got kids. What does that look like in a family setting?”
I guess it’s a take, but we’ll just have to wait and see how The Way of Water plays out. I’ll admit, I was skeptical about a sequel to a movie from 2009, but the trailers look fantastic. If the story isn’t solid, at least we know we’ll be in for a show.
Catch Avatar: The Way of Water when it swims into theaters Dec. 16.
