The long-awaited sequel of James Cameron, Avatar 2 was initially set for a 2014 release. But it's indeed surprising that fans had to wait for almost close to a decade. A major reason for the delay was largely Cameron himself. He didn't take things 'easy' on himself and set large chunks of the movie underwater. 'Avatar 2' has truly taken a lot of time - but thankfully, the world expects it to make a return to Pandora during Christmas.

There Was No Plan For A Sequel

In one of his interviews with the 'EW', Cameron said how he never had any plan of making the sequel. It was largely because of 'Avatar' that made a crazy amount of money. Naturally, the makers had to go ahead with it. And if it would be anybody who could pull off with this Herculean task of a sequel, it had to be Cameron. For someone who has brought two of the top 3 highest-grossing movies of all time, which include 'Titanic' and 'Avatar', Cameron knew how to get started with it. Many might question the need for 'Avatar 2', but nobody would dare question the filmmaker!

The sequel started with the filming process in 2017. With a rich mix of motion capture and live-action elements, the film couldn't have seen a release date in a hurry. Cameron had revealed in September 2020 that they were almost '100% complete' on Avatar 2. To be precise, 95% of 'Avatar 3' was also done! And now, it's projected that 'Avatar 2' will see a release on December 16, 2022. Thanks to the global health crisis, the movie's release date has been pushed back from December 2021 to 2022.

Avatar 4 Shooting Has Started

In the last few years, Cameron has worked on several movies that would soon release. So much so that Cameron revealed last year how he had also filmed a few portions of 'Avatar 4' owing to the young cast. So any actor who had to shoot for Part 2 and Part 3 was made to finish off his or her scenes for Part 4 as well! Especially with kids, he had to get them to do the parts well. With the little ones, he shot first.

But the question remains - what took them so long? Looking back, it's weird that Avatar 2 was supposed to release in 2014, followed by Avatar 3 in 2015. The delay had already occurred after Part 2 was meant to start by April 2016. Still, the filming never started. But in January the same year, it came to the open that the motion-capture film elements would begin by August 2017, which eventually went till September.

But the fact that a 4^th part would also release led to the delay furthermore. James Cameron attributed the writing process and how 'involved' he became that ultimately caused such an unimaginable delay. Disney later shifted it to December 2021 when Cameron and the team planned for 2020.

Surprisingly, Cameron was least affected by the delays. He reminded the media about the 7-year gap between 'The Terminator' and 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day, as much as 'Alien' and 'Aliens'.

What To Expect?

In regards to the name of the 'Avatar' sequels, there has been no official confirmation about what it would be called. Still, the BBC (in November 2018) reported that the films are likely to be named as – 'Avatar: The Way of Water', 'Avatar: The Seed Bearer', 'Avatar: The Tulkun Rider' and 'Avatar: The Quest for Eywa'.  Almost the entire core cast of the 'Avatar' first part was on contract. So it needs no second mention that Cameron's stars would make a comeback after the release occurs.

Expect to see Zoe Saldana once again as the Navi princess Neytiri, and Sam Worthington would also reprise the human turned Navi, Jake Sully. Even Stephen Land would be making a return as Colonel Miles Quaritch, one of the four villains of the four films. However, Cameron had decided not to divulge how he would be brought back. After all, it's 'science fiction'!

The sequel has been an extended wait, but it would live to the expectations and truly be worthy of a watch. Cameron expects fans to be fascinated. More surprises are awaiting fans and Cameron can't wait to bring them out in the open.  One thing is certain - viewers don't need to watch Avatar just to figure out and enjoy the sequels.