The Avatar series made a huge splash (pun intended) with the release of its highly anticipated second film, Avatar: The Way of Water. The incredibly successful movie saw the world of the fantasy planet Pandora expand even further, with new tribes, creatures, and lore being established throughout its runtime.
A new Avatar game has also been in the works for a while, with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora hoping to capitalize on the series' revitalized interest. Although James Cameron is trusting Ubisoft's own vision on the project, the upcoming open-world game has even more to work with since the release of The Way of Water. Here are a few key elements from the film we hope to see.
6 More Na'vi Tribes
The most significant bit of lore introduced in The Way of Water is arguably the existence of tribes outside the forest Na'vi from the first film. Jake Sully and his family are forced to take refuge with the water Na'vi, learning their ways and customs as they attempt to blend in.
Frontiers of Pandora has the potential to allow us an even closer look at the ways these segmented Na'vi differ from one another. While it wouldn't be surprising for director James Cameron to save newer types of Na'vi for the films, it would also be thrilling to have the opportunity to explore the differences that exist even among the various forest and ocean tribes that we know of.
5 A Wide Range Of Creatures
The first Avatar film taught us about the wide array of land and air-based animals that exist on Pandora, from the horse-like pa'li to the flying ikran. The Way of Water expands this concept even further, introducing the ocean-dwelling ilu and tsurak mounts as well as the majestic tulkun.
Ubisoft's Avatar game could capitalize on these concepts by offering a wide range of rideable creatures throughout Pandora, letting you traverse the land, sea, and air easily. There's even room for more animals to be introduced in the game — after all, who knows what else lurks in the mysterious planet's environment?
4 Unique Spirit Trees With Different Abilities
In the first Avatar film, the Tree of Souls is established as a sacred element of Na'vi culture. It allows the Na'vi to connect, communicate, and interact directly with Eywa, the sentient life force of the planet of Pandora. It can even connect with the nervous system of humans, allowing them to transition into their Na'vi avatars through natural means.
The Way of Water introduces the underwater Spirit Tree of the aquatic Metkayina tribe. It functions similarly to the forest Na'vi's Tree of Souls, but allows for certain Na'vi to manipulate the aquatic life that surrounds it, connecting them to the very ecosystem that they inhabit. Hopefully, Frontiers of Pandora will explore this concept even further. More Spirit Trees could be connected to different environments, allowing for new connections and abilities that are tied to the planet.
3 A Look At The Human Expansion Into Pandora
On the opposite end of Pandora, far from its lush natural environments, humans have begun to expand their presence on the planet at an alarming rate. The first film sets up the many interests humans have in the planet and its resources, and The Way of Water explains that, because of their technological advancements and funding from the RDA organization, they've been able to essentially build a full city on Pandora in a matter of months.
Being able to explore and observe the strongholds and cities built by humans on Pandora would be extremely interesting. It would showcase the overreach of the RDA there, as well as some of the unique and intriguing technology that exists in this future world.
2 The State Of Planet Earth
When we're introduced to the human encampment on Pandora and shown the rapid expansion of its human-friendly environment, we're given a brief explanation as to why the government bodies of Earth are so interested in the planet in the first place. It turns out that the Earth is quickly deteriorating, and mankind will soon need a new celestial body to call home.
Although the game's namesake is the planet of Pandora, it would be fascinating to take a look at the state of our home planet during the time period in which it's set. How rough is the Earth's condition at this point? Is there any sympathy to be had for humans looking for a new home, or have they overreached and drained the planet of its resources, moving on to Pandora with the hopes of treating it in a similar manner?
1 Established Characters From The Film
The Avatar films are largely character-driven journeys. While they've done a lot to establish the lore and customs of Pandora, these elements of the story tend to revolve around Jake Sully, Neytiri, and their respective family and friends. The Way of Water takes this even further, introducing us to the children of Jake and Neytiri, along with a number of other significant humans and Na'vi.
It would be an enticing treat to run into some of these characters within Frontiers of Pandora, allowing you to interact with them for the first time. While we know that the game will explore new characters and locations, there's always the possibility that its story could overlap with that of the films, letting you connect with some of the characters that we've already grown to know and love.