Avatar 5 is gearing up to feature the franchise's first big Earth story, but this could also set up a major problem with the Avatar timeline. Like many of James Cameron's other franchises, the Avatar series has meticulous attention to detail, with the world-building of Pandora being incredibly in-depth. Because of this, Avatar 5's Earth storyline will definitely have a major impact on the rest of the films, with it possibly ruining the franchise's timeline.

James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar was a massive success, leading to the creation of a heavily planned-out Avatar franchise. The film's sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, didn't release until 13 years later in 2022, but the films will move at a much faster pace from now on. Avatar 3, Avatar 4, and Avatar 5 will all release by 2028, with the fifth film concluding the exciting series. Not much is known about the next three Avatar movies, but they will undoubtedly be just as exciting and expansive as their predecessors. However, the fifth film also has the chance to completely mess up the timeline.

Avatar producer Jon Landau has confirmed that the Na'vi will travel to Earth in Avatar 5, which is an exciting prospect for the future of the franchise. Apparently, Jake Sully and the rest of the main cast will team up to save Earth, possibly redeeming the franchise's villainous humans. Details are still slim on how the Na'vi make their way from Pandora to Earth, but it will undoubtedly require some space travel. Avatar hasn't really explored the possibility of space travel yet, but it has confirmed some details. In the Avatar universe, the journey from Earth to Pandora takes 4 to 6 years.

This 4 to 6 year travel time sets up some problems, as it is an incredibly long time. In order to have the Na'vi travel to Earth in Avatar 5, the film will have to feature a massive time jump, aging all of the characters up by around half a decade. By the time they make it to Earth, entre storylines could have taken place, meaning that the universe could be entirely different. This is an even bigger problem if the Na'vi are traveling back and forth between Pandora and Earth, as each journey will require the film to have another 4 to 6 year time jump.

Avatar 5's Space Travel Is A Problem For Characters Left Behind

Avatar 5's space travel may be a problem for the franchise's timeline as well as the characters making the trek, but it is also a problem for the characters that are left behind. Obviously not every Na'vi from Pandora will travel to Earth, with some being left behind on the alien planet. By the time the Sully family returns to Pandora, these characters who were left behind will be 8 to 12 years older. Having a decade pass without interactions between these characters could seriously throw off Avatar's dynamic, shifting how many of the side characters function within the series.

On top of that, the ages of all the Na'vi on Pandora will be thrown off in Avatar 5. By the time that the Sully family returns to Earth, many kids will be adults, many adults will be elders, and many elders will be dead. Plus, the RDA could change the planet in Jake Sully's absence. The RDA has shown how much damage they can do in only a few days, so the company having a decade alone on Pandora could make conditions even worse. The Sully family traveling to Earth has the potential to be an exciting story, but it could also wreck everything.

How Avatar 5 Can Fix Its Space Travel Timeline Problem

Avatar: The Way of Water featured the death of an annoying villain from the Resources Development Administration (RDA), but the sequel's producer has retconned the character's death by confirming his return in Avatar 3. 

After a peaceful decade, Avatar 2 marked the Sky People's return to terrorize the Na'vi. Instead of simply running a mining operation, the humans' comeback to Pandora is fueled by the idea that they want to make the planet the new home for humanity. 

One of the new foes introduced as part of the Sky People is Brendan Cowell's Mick Scoresby, a side villain in charge of the RDA's tulkun hunting efforts. While Avatar 2 seemingly featured his brutal demise, it turns out he is far from dead. 

Avatar 3 Brings Back Key Side Villain

Speaking with Empire, Avatar: The Way of Water producer Jon Landau confirmed that Brendan Cowell's Mick Scoresby will return in Avatar 3. 

Landau's confirmation essentially retcons Scoresby's apparent death in Avatar 2 since many assumed that the character died. 

During the eventful clash between the Metkayina clan and the RDA, Scoresby tries to shoot Payakan with his harpoon, but the Tulkun outsmarted the villain by wrapping the weapon's cord around the shoop.

As a result, the Tulkun hunter's arm is trapped against his boat's hull and cleaved off when Payakan pulls against it. This led to Scoresby's body and his severed arm being thrown into the ocean. 

Alongside the confirmation of Scoresby's revenge tour in Avatar 3, Landau also revealed that Payakan would be back in the threequel, teasing that the movie will further explore his relationship with Lo'ak.

How Mick Scoresby Returns in Avatar 3 (Theory)

Mick Scoresby's return in Avatar 3 spells trouble for the Sully family and Payakan due to his quest for revenge. 

Given that his body is nowhere to be found at the end of Avatar 2, Scoresby may follow the same path as Miles Quaritch by turning into a Recombinant, a fully sentient human/Na'vi hybrid warrior that has been embedded with the recorded memories of a human. 

Doing this effectively elevates Scoresby into a much more formidable threat to the Tulkuns in Pandora, with his main target being Payakan. 

If the Tulkun hunter doesn't end up as a Recombinant, he could still portray an integral role as the one in charge of ordering some of RDA's soldiers to hunt down the Sully family and Payakan. 

Avatar: The Way of Water is still playing in theaters worldwide.

Avatar: The Way of Water is officially going to turn a profit, and in celebration, director James Cameron offered up an update on Avatar 3, 4, and 5.

Despite more than a decade coming between Avatar and its sequel, it seems The Way of Water is another hit for Cameron, as the film breaks into the top 10 biggest movies of all time less than a month after release. 

This all comes after years of talk of the Titanic director's extensive plans for his Pandoran epic. Even before Avatar 2 hit theaters, Cameron was not shy in describing what could come next after The Way of Water. 

And with this latest sequel continuing to etch its name into the record books, and Avatar 3 in the can, Cameron took some time to look ahead at the future of the franchise.

More Avatar Sequels Confirmed on the Way

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Avatar director James Cameron provided an encouraging update on the extensive sequel plan he has for the sci-fi franchise. 

Cameron told the outlet that "it looks like [he] can’t wiggle out of this, [he's] gonna have to do these other sequels," as The Way of Water trends towards making a profit:

“It looks like just with the momentum that the film has now that will easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this, I’m gonna have to do these other sequels.”

According to the visionary filmmaker, "[he's] sure that [he’ll] have a discussion soon with the top folks at Disney" about "the game plan going forward for Avatar 3:"

"I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years. The point is we’re going to be okay. I’m sure that we’ll have a discussion soon with with the top folks at Disney about the game plan going forward for 'Avatar 3', which is already in the can – we’ve already captured and photographed the whole film so we’re in extended post-production to do all that CG magic.

"And then 'Avatar 4' and '5' are both written. We even have some of '4' in the can. We’ve begun a franchise at this point. We’ve begun a saga that can now play out over multiple films.”

In a wave of new information for the highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, franchise director James Cameron has revealed details about the production process behind all the Avatar sequels, comparing them to The Lord of the Rings, according to an exclusive for Empire Magazine.

“What I said to the Fox regime at the time was, ‘I’ll do it, but we’ve got to play a larger game here. I don’t want to just do a movie and do a movie and do a movie. I want to tell a bigger story’,” Cameron told Empire Magazine. “I said, ‘Imagine a series of novels like The Lord of the Rings existed, and we’re adapting them.’ Now, that was great in theory, but then I had to go create the frickin’ novels from which to adapt it.”

Similar to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Cameron filmed the Avatar sequels back-to-back in a lengthy shoot that began in 2017. After the release of The Way of Water, the third Avatar film is expected to debut in December 2024 with the fourth and fifth film following every two years. The first Avatar was praised for its detailed world building, which Lord of the Rings is also similarly known for. With over a decade in the making, Cameron will expand the world of Avatar even more by showing the different cultures and ecosystems of Pandora in the upcoming sequels.

Alongside the production information given by Cameron, Empire Magazine also revealed a new image from the film which shows a young Na'vi, likely one of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri's (Zoe Saldaña) children, sitting in the water with a giant whale-like creature. The image depicts the two sharing a connection with each other offering a glimpse of the life-like CGI that audiences will get to experience.

The image reveals a closer look of what was teased in the first trailer for the film which depicted the two swimming together underwater. While it remains unknown how large of a role their connection will have to the plot, it does echo an event in the first film when Jake bonded with the Great Leonopteryx, known to the Na'vi as Toruk. As speculation and anticipation continue to build, audiences will finally be able to explore the oceans of Pandora when the film releases in theaters later this year.

Directed by Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water will be released exclusively in theaters on December 16. The original Avatar will also be re-released in theaters on September 23.

With the release of the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's science fiction epic, Avatar, only six months away, an exclusive from Empire Magazine offers a new look at Kate Winslet's character, Ronal, a free-diving member of the Metkayina clan.

The image for Avatar: The Way of Water depicts Ronal standing alongside Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) as they stare into the distance. The image offers a detailed look at the two characters, revealing the advanced CGI on full display. Unlike the Na'vi characters introduced in the first Avatar film, Ronal and Tonowari have blue eyes instead of yellow as well as tattoos along their body and face. The two characters also both wear intricately detailed wardrobes with bright colors that pop out of the screen in line with the colorful world that audiences fell in love with in the original film.

Alongside the new image, the cover of Empire Magazine's newest issue features Ronal ready for battle on Pandora's oceans. The cover shows the film's highly-detailed CGI in its full glory with Ronal's thick, wavy hair looking life-like and the small individual water particles scattered throughout it.

It remains unknown how big of a role Winslet's character will play in the story for Avatar: The Way of Water. Ronal will be pregnant in the film which could potentially lead to conflict as battles begin to escalate. That won't stop her willingness to fight. Offering insight into what her character will be like in the upcoming sequel

Avatar: The Way of Water will see the reunion of Winslet and Cameron after their previous collaboration on Titanic which would earn Winslet an Oscar nomination. In preparation for the role of Ronal, Winslet had to learn how to free-dive and hold her breath for over seven minutes in order to utilize the groundbreaking underwater motion capture technology featured in the film. With the talents of Winslet playing a strong character in another groundbreaking film from Cameron, fans now have another reason to return to the world of Pandora.

Avatar: The Way of Water is directed by Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, CCH Pounder, Curtis, Winslet, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang. The film will be released exclusively in theaters on December 16. Fans will also get the chance to re-experience the first film in theaters on September 23.

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With LEGO Con 2022 now in full swing and the release of Avatar: The Way of Water still several months away, a new LEGO set has been revealed via TheBrickFan which features various characters and creatures from the James Cameron sci-fi epic.

The set, simply called LEGO Avatar Toruk Makto and Tree of Souls, features a recreation of a scene in the first Avatar film which depicts Jake Sully, shortly after taming the Great Leonopteryx, arriving at The Tree of Souls, the most spiritually significant location to the Na'vi. The set is the first in what is likely a new line for the LEGO brand and will return audiences back to the colorful world of Pandora in a new way.

The set will come with four characters from the film such as Jake Sully, Neytiri, Mo’at, and Tsu’Tey. Alongside the characters, the set will also come with a Direhorse for the characters to ride on. However, the Direhorse can't compare to the size of the Great Leonopteryx, known to the Na'Vi as Toruk, which towers over the other figures. The figure stands out among the rest for its eye-catching, bright red colors similar to the real creature seen in the film.

The biggest piece that the set comes with is the inclusion of The Tree of Souls, a location first seen in the original film. The set features the large tree with its iconic branches that resemble purple sea anemone. Alongside the tree is another build of vegetation and rocks alongside what appears to be a small floating mountain. The large LEGO set will have 1,212 pieces for fans to put together.

The LEGO set will be part of several Avatar-related merchandise likely to come out in the next few months in anticipation for the release of the new film. Should the sequels of the sci-fi epic prove to be as big as the first film, more LEGO sets will likely be expected down the line which could potentially echo the popularity of other themes such as Star Wars, The Avengers, and Jurassic World, all of which eventually expanded into their own video games.

LEGO Avatar Toruk Makto and Tree of Souls will be available to purchase this fall on October 1 and will be priced at $149.99.

The first Avatar film returns to theaters on September 23. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, will be released on December 16.