Will Avatar 4 Be the Setup Movie for Avatar 5?
Fans of the Avatar series are buzzing about what comes next after the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters this December. Director James Cameron has big plans for Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, but questions linger about how these films will connect. Each movie in the saga, starting with Avatar: The Way of Water, tells its own complete story while building toward a larger tale that spans all five films. This means Avatar 4, set for release on December 21, 2029, could act as a key setup piece for the grand finale in Avatar 5 on December 19, 2031.
Cameron has shared that the sequels form a meta-narrative, where individual plots link together for the full picture. In a recent interview discussed in a YouTube video from IGN Nordic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qj9sieue8Y), he hinted at the pressure on Avatar 3 to perform well financially. If Fire and Ash does not earn enough to greenlight the later films, Cameron joked that the story for Avatar 4 and 5 might wrap up in a book instead. This underscores the high stakes, as the series pushes forward only if box office numbers justify it.
At 71 years old now, Cameron will be nearing 80 by the time Avatar 5 finishes production. He is determined to see his full vision through, with Avatar 4 likely introducing major plot threads that pay off in the fifth movie. For instance, expect deeper exploration of Pandora’s world, new conflicts, and character arcs that ramp up tension across both films. Details from an IGN article (https://nordic.ign.com/avatar-fire-and-ash/101468/news/james-cameron-says-if-avatar-fire-and-ash-doesnt-make-enough-money-to-justify-avatar-4) confirm this interconnected approach, noting that Disney needs strong results from Fire and Ash to fund the next chapters over the coming six years.
While specifics on Avatar 4’s plot remain under wraps, its position in the series suggests it will heighten the stakes set by earlier entries. Think of it as the calm before the storm, planting seeds for Avatar 5’s epic resolution. Cameron’s track record with self-contained yet linked stories, like in the first two Avatars, points to Avatar 4 delivering thrilling standalone action while teasing the bigger payoff.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qj9sieue8Y
https://nordic.ign.com/avatar-fire-and-ash/101468/news/james-cameron-says-if-avatar-fire-and-ash-doesnt-make-enough-money-to-justify-avatar-4
