Avatar 5 Plot Details Tease Return to Earth

Producer Jon Landau doesn’t know if Avatar 5 will ever make it to theaters, but if it does, he knows one part of the film’s plot already.

In a recent press day for the upcoming Avatar: The Way of Water (via Gizmodo), Landau was asked whether or not the Earthlings from the original film will ever return to bring the war to the Na’vi, following their defeat and retreat from planet Pandora at the end of Avatar. Landau wouldn’t give up much information on that, although he did say that if Avatar 5 were to get made, fans would see Earth in the film.

“Well, it’s funny,” Landau said. “I wasn’t going to talk about it, but I’ve now subsequently heard that Jim has talked about it a little bit. In [Avatar 5], there is a section of the story where we go to Earth. And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s eyes, to what exists on Earth.”

Landau also went on to explain that it was important for Neytiri — who is portrayed by Zoe Saldaña in the films — to eventually learn that Earth isn’t just filled with people who want to harm the Na’vi.

“Earth is not just represented by the RDA [the evil organization in the film; the abbreviation stands for Resources Development Administration],” said Landau. “Just like you’re defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad. Not all Na’vi are good. And that’s the case here on Earth. And we want to expose Neytiri to that.”

Of course, whether or not an Avatar 5 will ever be made is currently unknown, and depends heavily on how the second, third, and potential fourth film in the franchise performs at the box office. Currently, plans for the future of the Avatar franchise include its sequel, a third film — which has finished filming, according to Cameron — and two potential sequels past that. However, Cameron has said at various times that if the sequel and Avatar 3 don’t perform well enough at the box office, a fourth and fifth movie might not happen.

Avatar 3 is tentatively scheduled for December 20, 2024. While Avatar 4 is set for December 18, 2026, and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028.