20th Century Fox has finally begun production on James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, and to mark the occasion, they’ve sent out a first look photo at the sequels’ new young cast members. The new cast members include:
The Sully Family
JAMIE FLATTERS: Neteyam (neh-tay'-ahm) Jake and Neytiri's first born son.
BRITAIN DALTON: Lo'ak (loh' ahk) Lo'ak is Jake and Neytiri's second born.
TRINITY BLISS: Tuktirey: (took-tee'-ray) She goes mostly by "Tuk" (rhymes with "nuke"). She is youngest of the Sully family.
Of the Metkayina Clan
BAILEY BASS: Tsireya (see-ray'-ah) "Reya" She is a graceful and strong free-diver - the young Neytiri of the ocean.
FILIP GELJO: Aonung (aw-nung') Young male hunter/free-diver son the Olo'eyktan of Metkayina Clan.
DUANE EVANS JR.: Rotxo (row'-txoh) Young male hunter/free-diver of the Metkayina.
Former Hell's Gate Adolescent
JACK CHAMPION: Javier "Spider" Socorro - A human teenager, born at Hell's Gate but prefers his time in the Pandoran rainforest more than the asphalt of Hell's Gate.
I wonder if Jake and Neytiri had any conversations where Jake was like, “I want to name our kid ‘Billy’ and she was like, ‘Nope. Only vaguely Native American-sounding names for our children.’”
Of course, with the exception of Champion, all of these characters will be Na’vi, so that means they’ll be blue, cat-like, and tall, so these photos don’t give a great idea of what they’ll look like in the movie beyond being kids.
By highlighting the kids in this first look, it’s possible that they’re trying to stress how these upcoming Avatar sequels are standing in for a generational saga, and while Jake and Neytiri may be the entry point for these stories, it’s the young actors (i.e. the ones who don’t have the contractual obligations and busy career of someone like Zoe Saldana) who could be carrying this series forward.
As for how Cameron plans to tackle directing four sequels, he tells THR:
Avatar 2 and 3 will be captured together and then [go through postproduction] sequentially. Then we go back and capture 4 and 5. They're all written and they're all designed, so we literally hit the ground running the day after Avatar 3 comes out, starting capture on 4 and 5 and then post on those and release those. That's the plan. So, it's kind of a two-and-two structure.
The first Avatar sequel is slated to open on December 18, 2020.
