Avatar 2 trailer hints at major death in sequel

The new trailer for Avatar 2 – titled Avatar: The Way of Water – seems to tease a major death for one of the main characters in the sequel.

It’s been a wait worthy of Gloria Stuart’s withered voice – 13 years ago, James Cameron broke new ground in blockbuster filmmaking with Avatar, the big-budget spectacle to beat them all.

After all this time, it’s still sitting atop the worldwide box office throne, and the hype for Avatar 2 is palpable after the original movie was re-released in IMAX in September.

A new trailer for Avatar 2 dropped today, and upon a closer look, it’s hard to shake the feeling we’re going to see the tragic death of one of the lead characters – but who?

Avatar 2 trailer teases Neytiri’s death in sequel

Yeah, it looks like we’re going to see the death of Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in Avatar 2. Before we get into it, check out the trailer before, and watch and listen closely:

So, why do we think Neytiri will die? The trailer seems to hint at Neytiri losing her life in a battle early on in the film, either shortly after the birth of her daughter with Jake (Sam Worthington) or in her infant years.

It opens with a teenage Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) – Jake and Neytiri’s child – swimming in the ocean, before showing Neytiri hunting in the forests of Pandora while she’s pregnant.

20th Century Studios

As we watch Neytiri stroll around the wildlife, we see her talking to Jake. “Dad, I know you think I’m crazy, but I feel her. I hear her heartbeat. She’s so close,” she says, while the trailer shows clips of Jake raising a young Kiri and teaching her how to hold a bow and arrow, a ceremony around the Tree of Souls which could be an attempt to revive Neytiri, and Jake and Neytiri flying around on their banshees.

“So what does her heartbeat sound like?” Jake asks. “Mighty,” Kiri replies. We also see her swimming underwater to connect her hair to another Tree of Souls, suggesting she’s able to access memories of Neytiri.

Neytiri appears in other parts of the trailer, but they’re during a fiery battle – perhaps an initial retaliatory attack from Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) after the events of the first film, the fallout of which leads Jake to seek the help of the Metkayina clan?

“The way of water connects all things, before your birth and after your death,” one character also says in the trailer, further teasing Neytiri’s death.

Avatar 2 is due for release on December 16, 2022. You can find out more here.