Zoe Saldaña's Character Would Visit Earth in 'Avatar 5' to See 'Not All Humans Are Bad,' Producer Reveals

Producer Jon Landau says the potential fifth movie would "open people's eyes... to what exists on Earth" in James Cameron's sci-fi franchise

Neytiri in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Photo: Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Potential Avatar sequels could eventually bring the action to Earth.

During a recent interview with io9, producer Jon Landau confirmed that the already-planned-but-not-guaranteed fifth entry would feature "a section of the story where we go to Earth" along with Zoe Saldaña's Na'vi character Neytiri.

"I wasn't going to talk about it, but I've now subsequently heard that Jim has talked about it a little bit," Landau said. "In movie five 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 went on to explain that a future plotline in the Avatar franchise would involve Neytiri coming to understand that not all humans from Earth are part of the organization in the film dead-set on mining her home planet Pandora for its natural resources.

"Just like you're defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad," the producer told the outlet. "Not all Na'vi are good. And that's the case here on Earth. And we want to expose Neytiri to that."

(L-R): Jake Sully, Ronal, and Tonowari in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). 20th Century Studios

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

While the third and fourth Avatar movies are well on their way toward finalizing production, Cameron's vision for Avatar 5 largely depends on the success of the new film Way of Water. Landau explained that the series wants to take its time before it potentially takes Neytiri all the way to Jake Sully's (Sam Worthington) home world.

"I think right now we want each movie to do exactly what the first movie did," he told io9. "We want [audiences] to go, 'Wow. Where else could they go? They just showed us everything on Pandora.' "

"Then you go, 'Holy cow. They're going to the oceans. Wow. The oceans are amazing.' Okay, that's over. Where can it go? Same thing from an emotional story," he added.

Landau added that the Avatar production team wants "people to come out of this movie with an emotional resolution that both calls for a yearning to go back to those characters and to the world" after Way of Water.

Jake Sully in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER.
Avatar: The Way of Water. 20th Century Studios

In November, Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter that he has five or six more films in him — three of which will likely be Avatar movies. The 68-year old director also revealed that he has Avatar 6 and 7 mapped out already, adding that he'd be "89 by then."

"Obviously, I'm not going to be able to make Avatar movies indefinitely," Cameron said, citing the "amount of energy required."

To continue his legacy and the story of the Na'vi, the Terminator director said he "would have to train somebody": "I don't care how smart you are as a director, you don't know how to do this."

Avatar: The Way of Water is in theaters Friday.

Related Articles