Say hello to Sigourney Weaver. Yes really. Screenshot: Disney
Ever since we first heard, roughly 17 billion years ago, that Sigourney Weaver would be returning for James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, we’ve all been confused (even more than the idea of multiple Avatar sequels). But now that we actually know how Weaver is coming back, we’re… kind of even more confused.
Empire Magazine revealed that Weaver – who played Dr. Grace Augustine, the developer of the Human-Na’vi switcheroo Avatar program in the original film, who died at its climax – will play an entirely new character in Avatar: The Way of Water. And no, it’s not a person: it’s the teenage girl of Avatar’s protagonists, Jake and Neytiri.
Weaver will play Kiri, the couple’s adopted daughter and just one of the many members of Jake and Neytiri’s family that we look set to meet in Water Road. “I think we all pretty much remember how we felt as teenagers,” Weaver told Empire about what it’s like to play a digitized blue teenager. “I certainly do. I was 5′ 10” or 5′ 11” when I was 11. I felt strongly that Kiri would be uncomfortable a lot of the time. She’s looking for who she is. I was excited to get that challenge from Jim.
Now look, adult actors play kids all the time, especially in the world of voice acting, and it seems from at least one still-released Empire of Kiri that Weaver will also reappear in some capacity as Dr. Augustine, possibly via archival footage. But given the fantastic mocap facilities we know bring the Na’vi to life for the most part, there’s going to be something strange about watching Weaver’s physical representation transferred onto a teenager. A tall blue alien teenager, sure, but a teenager nonetheless.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to hit theaters in December 2022.
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