The ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Official Trailer Reveals Stunning New Pandora Footage and Teases an Epic War

A few weeks before the highly anticipated sci-fi sequel’s Dec. 16 release date, 20th Century Studios has released a new trailer for “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

The sequel to the franchise sees the return of Stephen Lang’s villain character Colonel Quaritch, who appears to have been revived through a Na’vi avatar form, and puts him at odds with Pandora native Neytiri (Zoe Saldaa) and her mate Jake Sully (Sam Worthington).

The newly released trailer shows Jake and Neytiri snuggling up as a family more than a decade after the original film, which took place in 2154. Viewers get a closer look at the couple’s Na’vi children, including Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), Tuktirey (Trinity Bliss), and Kiri (Trinity Bliss) (Sigourney Weaver, returning to the franchise in a new role).

“The story is about family, about our families trying to stay together [and] the lengths we all go to protect each other and the place where we live,” Weaver said at a screening for her film “The Good House.” “It’s based very much on [James Cameron’s] family and his joy in the family, as well as how vulnerable you are when you have children.”

Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, and Jemaine Clement are among the newcomers to the franchise.

The trailer contains plenty of visually stunning ocean footage, which also serves to highlight the cast’s impressive breath-holding abilities, as they trained with specialists to be able to shoot extended takes of scenes underwater without coming to the surface for air. Saldaa revealed in an interview earlier this year that her personal record for holding her breath underwater was five minutes.

Cameron is also writing, producing, and editing “Avatar: The Way of Water,” as he did with “Avatar” in 2009. Produced by Jon Landau and Peter M. Tobyansen. Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno collaborated on the story.