With the announcement that Sigourney Weaver was set to return to the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar, many speculated what kind of role she would play due to the death of her character, Dr. Grace Augustine, who was head of the Avatar Program in the original film. Finally, in an exclusive from Empire Magazine, Weaver has revealed details about the character she will be playing in Avatar: The Way of Water alongside a new image from the film.
Weaver revealed to Empire Magazine that she will appear in the film as a teenage Na'vi named Kiri, the adopted daughter of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). “I think we all pretty much remember what we were feeling as adolescents,” Weaver said in an exclusive to Empire Magazine. “I certainly do. I was 5’ 10” or 5’ 11” when I was 11. I felt strongly that Kiri would feel awkward a lot of the time. She’s searching for who she is. I was thrilled to be given that challenge by Jim.”
A new image, which further adds to the mystery of the character, has also been revealed which hints at some kind of connection that Kiri will have with Grace. The image depicts Kiri inside a lab looking at a monitor with a recording of Grace on the screen. Despite not being biologically related to Jake and Neytiri, Kiri appears to have human features that don't belong to other Na'vi such as five digits and eyebrows, adding to the mystery of the lineage of the character.
With a clear connection between the two, alongside both characters being played by the same actor, fans can only speculate how much Kiri's role will play into the story. The character will also be featured on a subscriber-exclusive cover for Empire Magazine that features her swimming underwater admiring the sea life of Pandora, which was seen in the first trailer.
Avatar: The Way of Water will mark the third collaboration between Weaver and Cameron after playing Ellen Ripley in Aliens and Grace in the first Avatar film. Alongside Weaver, Stephen Lang will also be returning for the second film in some capacity as Colonel Miles Quaritch, who was responsible for killing Grace. Just like Weaver's character, Quaritch also died in the original film, leading to further speculation about his role in Avatar: The Way of Water. While the roles that both actors play remain a mystery, fan speculation can continue to grow until the highly anticipated film is finally released later this year.
Avatar: The Way of Water will be released exclusively in theaters on December 16.