Summary
- ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ repeats original in 8 big ways, focusing on common themes and storyline parallels.
- Fans initially pleased with sequel release, but have criticized similarities and recurring story beats.
- Both ‘Avatar’ movies revolve around greed, resource extraction, characters adapting to new bodies, and the RDA as villains.
Avatar: The Way of Water was a great continuation of the 2009 Avatar, but it did manage to repeat James Cameron’s original movie in eight big ways. Due to Avatar: The Way of Water being a sequel to Avatar, it makes sense that both films share a lot of parallels. The Avatar franchise is linked together by a common story, characters, and themes, meaning that the DNA of each film will be essentially the same as the series continues on. However, it is hard not to notice some of these parallels in Avatar: The Way of Water, like these eight.
After 13 years of waiting for a sequel to 2009’s Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water was finally released in 2022, with it overall exceeding fan expectations. In the years since its release, however, some viewers have begun to criticize the similarities between Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar. Some have held the position that the sequel is a retreat of the original made for a new generation. There are definitely some moments of repetition, but others argue that these parallels are used to hit home the thematic purpose of the Avatar franchise.
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8 Miles Quaritch Returned As The Main Villain In Avatar 2
But He Is An Avatar In The Sequel
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The most commonly pointed out parallel between Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water is that Miles Quaritch was the main villain in both films. In the original Avatar, Miles Quaritch is the face of the RDA on Pandora, with him leading the conquest against the Na’vi in order for humanity to obtain unobtanium. Throughout his time on Pandora, Quaritch started a rivalry with his former soldier Jake Sully, leading to him developing a hatred for the Na’vi that carried over into the sequel.
While Quaritch does return as the main villain of Avatar: The Way of Water, the film does change his character significantly. In the sequel, it is actually a different version of the character, with an Avatar replica of Quaritch replacing the dead human version. This Na’vi Quaritch does still hate Jake Sully, but the film spends a lot more time fleshing him out, making him far less of a one-dimensional bad guy. Quaritch’s relationship with his son Spider is one of the main focuses of the original, adding more layers to this repeat of the original movie.
7 A Main Character Has To Get Used To Their Avatar Body
Jake Sully & Quaritch
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The eponymous scientific gimmick of the Avatar franchise is one of the main storylines in James Cameron’s original film, and while the Avatar project does play less of a role in the sequel, the role it does play is almost exactly the same as in the 2009 movie. In 2009’s Avatar, the first half of the film almost entirely centers on Jake Sully attempting to adapt to his Avatar body, with him training with the RDA in order to learn how to live among the Na’vi. Then, much of the movie is dedicated to him assimilating with the Na’vi.
Avatar: The Way of Water also repeats this storyline, although Colonel Quaritch is the one getting used to an Avatar body rather than Jake Sully. Upon awakening in Avatar: The Way of Water, Quaritch’s Avatar has never been alive, meaning that he has to figure out how to operate with his new physicality. This aspect of Quaritch’s story is less significant than it was when Jake Sully went through it in the original film, but it is a major way that Avatar: The Way of Water copies the first film.
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6 The Big Death Just Before The Final Battle
Dr. Grace & Neteyam
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The Avatar franchise has a lot of characters, but two of the most popular members of the franchise have been killed off right before the final battle in order to add an extra layer of emotion to the climax. In the original Avatar, Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Grace served this purpose, with her dying and being taken by the Spirit Tree. This is the saddest moment in the original Avatar, and while she did return in some form through the birth of Kiri, it still adds a lot of emotion to Avatar‘s final battle.
A similar story point happens in Avatar: The Way of Water, although this time it is Neteyam who is killed off. Neteyam’s death in Avatar: The Way of Water is truly tragic, with it being required by the story in order to motivate Jake Sully, Neytiri, and Lo’ak to finish their character arcs. It makes sense that both Avatar movies would kill off a character in order to achieve their second act low points, but when looking back on the franchise, it becomes clear that this story beat is a little repetitious.
5 Loak’s Tulkun Replaced Jake’s Toruk
The Na’vi Have To Collaborate With Nature
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One of the major themes of the Avatar movies is living in harmony and collaboration with nature, something that it hits home through the characters’ relationships with the wildlife of Pandora. In the original film, a lot of focus is given to the relationship between Jake Sully and his toruk, also known as a great leonopteryx. Avatar highlights that this beast is almost impossible to tame, with only a few Na’vi before Jake being able to become Toruk Makto. However, Jake pulls it off, with him successfully taming his animal.
This thematic point is again reinforced in Avatar: The Way of Water, but instead of it focusing on Jake and his toruk, the film focuses on Lo’ak and his relationship with his tulkun. Despite the tulkun being portrayed as large beasts at the beginning of the film, Lo’ak manages to bond with one of the whale-like creatures. Avatar: The Way of Water spends a lot of time focusing on the relationship between Lo’ak and his tulkun spirit brother Payakan, paralleling the relationship between Jake and his tulkun in the original film.
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4 The Story Revolves Around A Precious Resource From Pandora
Unobtanium & Amrita
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Another one of the most obvious ways that Avatar: The Way of Water repeats the original Avatar is that both stories revolve around a precious resource that exists only on Pandora. The original Avatar famously features the mineral unobtanium, with this material being what drives the RDA’s conquest of Pandora and the subsequent conflicts with the Na’vi. In the film, unobtanium is treated like a required MacGuffin that allows the story to happen, although it isn’t anywhere near the most interesting part of the film.
Avatar: The Way of Water also needs to have humans extracting Pandora of its resources, but rather than continue the unobtanium storyline, the sequel introduces another precious resource. In the sequel, the humans are after amrita, a liquid that is produced by the tulkun. Humans can use amrita to slow the aging process, with the Na’vi having to protect the tulkun from human whalers throughout the film. The amrita is the MacGuffin of Avatar: The Way of Water, taking a page out of the original Avatar‘s book.
3 The Villainous Force Is Greedy RDA Humans
It Could’ve Been More Original
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While Colonel Quaritch is the main antagonist of both Avatar films, he is only the face of a larger force known as the RDA. The RDA is the overarching villainous organization of the Avatar movies, with them being introduced in the first film as a militarized company from Earth that wants to extract Pandora of its natural resources in order to enrich humanity.
Unfortunately, the RDA’s story purpose in both films is almost exactly the same, with their plans and methods being incredibly similar. This makes the RDA’s storyline feel a bit repetitive and boring in both Avatar movies, with there being all kinds of other options for villainous forces. It has been teased that Avatar 3 will feature Na’vi villains, with this addition to the film being exactly what the franchise needs in order to shake up its stale villain formula.
2 Jake Sully Has To Earn Acceptance From A Na’vi Clan
Although It Is Two Different Clans
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While the Na’vi are fighting off the RDA throughout the original Avatar, the true character conflict in the first film is between Jake Sully and his desire to be accepted by the Na’vi. While Jake Sully does find solace in Na’vi like Neytiri, many members of the clan do not want to take Jake Sully in, knowing that he isn’t a true Na’vi. Throughout the original Avatar, Jake Sully has to earn the trust of the Na’vi while also learning how to assimilate into their culture, something that he successfully does by the end of the film.
Avatar: The Way of Water repeats this storyline, with Jake Sully again having to earn acceptance from a Na’vi clan. This time, however, the Sully family is at odds with the Metkayina Na’vi clan, with them seeking refuge among the water-based tribe. Again, these Na’vi are hesitant to accept Jake and his family, but after they prove their loyalty and worth, they are fully welcomed into the tribe.
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1 They Were Both Huge Box Office Hits
Some Of The Highest-Grossing Movies Of All Time
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The final way that Avatar: The Way of Water repeated the original Avatar wasn’t intentional, although it was undoubtedly a welcome repeat. Both Avatar movies were massive box office hits, with each film making over $2 billion. While the original Avatar did make more than Avatar: The Way of Water, the massive box office return of both films put them in the ranking of the highest-grossing movies of all time, with the sequel paralleling the surprising success of the original film.
This is undoubtedly a trend that James Cameron and the rest of the Avatar team will want to repeat with the subsequent sequels. The next three Avatar films are all in the works, and it is possible that they could capitalize on the hype of Avatar: The Way of Water in order to succeed. While it will be nice to see Avatar move on from some of these repetitious story beats, fans of the franchise would be ecstatic to see the box office success of Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water continue.
Avatar: The Way of Water PG-13ActionAdventureFantasySci-Fi Where to Watch
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Ten years after the events of Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and their new family as they brave the world of Pandora and the struggles they endure to protect themselves and their people. Director James Cameron used The Way of Water to explore the oceans of Pandora and set the stage for the subsequent three sequels. In addition to Worthington and Saldana, Avatar: The Way of the Water sees the return of Sigourney Weaver, this time playing a character named Kiri, and Stephen Lang’s villainous Quaritch.
Director James Cameron Release Date December 16, 2022 Studio(s) 20th Century Distributor(s) 20th Century Writers James Cameron , Josh Friedman , Rick Jaffa , Shane Salerno , Amanda Silver Cast Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Stephen Lang , Kate Winslet , Vin Diesel , Michelle Yeoh , Cliff Curtis , David Thewlis Runtime 190 Minutes Franchise(s) Avatar Sequel(s) Avatar 3 prequel(s) Avatar Budget $250 Million Main Genre Adventure Expand