James Cameron has been responsible for helping bring to life some of the most beloved and memorable weird little (and not so little) guys in all of cinema. From the T-800 and T-1000 to the Xenomorph Queen and the iceberg that brought down the Titanic, Cameron knows how to weaponize iconography to make a memorable movie character. Still, in his 43-year-long career, Cameron has never reached the creative, emotional, and stylistic highs of his work in "Avatar: The Way of Water" — specifically the creation
of its true star, Payakan the young tulkun (aka the space whale).
Somehow inspired by Mike Wazowski from "Monsters Inc." (yes, really), Payakan leaped out of the water to immediately steal the heart of every person who saw "Avatar: The Way of Water." It's not hard to see why. He's adorable, he's a giant space whale, he has high intelligence, a tragic backstory, and also a penchant for killing human hunters. We are all great fans of Payakan here at /Film, and our own Witney Seibold wrote of how the movie was at its best when focusing on alien marine life, so the excitement was great when word started to arrive that we'd see more of Payakan in the upcoming "Avatar: Fire and Ash."
Now we can confirm that with our own eyes, because the first trailer for the third "Avatar" movie brings back the true star of the franchise, the reason movie theaters are built, and the very reason the medium was created. That's right, Payakan the tulkun is back, and he's out for vengeance.
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The True Star Of The Avatar Franchise Has Returned
The new trailer for "Avatar: Fire and Ash" doesn't show much of what the movie will be about, other than Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family visiting the remaining two of the four nations and meeting new element-based Na'vi clans like this is "Avatar: The Last Airbender." James Cameron is yet again expanding the world of Pandora, which promises to bring to theaters sights and landscapes audiences have never seen before, captivating them with such stunning visuals that repeated viewings are a must.
But without a doubt, the most important thing in the trailer is the return of Payakan the tulkun. We briefly see the space whale -- now much, much bigger and sporting some tribal piercings -- attacking some massive human ships. It seems our boy is now a soldier, helping the Na'vi/human/tulkun alliance in their resistance against the Resources Development Administration (RDA).
We know Payakan will not be alone in "Fire and Ash," because his space Ahab, Mick Scoresby (Brendan Cowell), is also set to return in the new movie. This could be the franchise's biggest rivalry outside of Jake Sully and Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and if the trailer is anything to go by, "Fire and Ash" will provide even more cool whale action.
"Avatar: Fire and Ash" is set to hit theaters on December 19, 2025.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
