There are several returning Avatar 2, aka Avatar: The Way of Water. James Cameron's long-delayed sequel to the biggest movie of 2009. Originally slated for a holiday 2020 release, Avatar: The Way of Water will finally hit theaters on December 16, 2022, starting the first new chapter in the Avatar franchise. Jake, Neytiri, and every Avatar 2 returning character will be ten years older, as the sequel is set a decade following the original James Cameron blockbuster. Many Avatar characters are in The Way of Water, including several fans presumed couldn't appear since they died in the first movie.
Apart from the returning Avatar characters, Avatar 2 also brings quite a few new and familiar actors into the franchise, such as Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, and Vin Diesel. There's also Fear the Walking Dead's Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jermaine Clement, and more. Avatar's Sigourney Weaver, who appeared in the original as Dr. Grace Augustine, is returning but to play a completely different character in Avatar: The Way of Water. Here's every Avatar 2 returning character and how the sequel picks up from where these characters left off in 2009's Avatar.
Jake Sully
Not surprisingly, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the main protagonist of the original movie, is an Avatar 2 returning character. Jake was a disabled Marine who became a part of the Avatar program. His objective was to gather information on the Na'vi for the R.D.A (Resources Development istration). After meeting the Na'vi and being initiated into the tribe, Jake grows attached to his new tribesmen and ultimately sides with them against the R.D.A. At the end of the movie, Jake becomes the tribe's leader, leaves his human life behind forever, and — through a Na'vi ritual that transfers Jake Sully's consciousness into his avatar — permanently becomes a Na'vi. By the time of Avatar 2, Jake will have started a family with Neytiri, who is of course another returning Avatar character.
Neytiri (Zoe Saldana)
The main female character and love interest to the protagonist in the first Avatar was Zoe Saldana's Neytiri, a Na'vi of the Omaticaya tribe, and it's no surprise Neytirie is in Avatar 2 as a returning character. She was the daughter of its leader, Eytukan (Wes Studi). Shortly after meeting Jake, Neytiri developed a romantic attraction to him, and soon after, they began a relationship. Zoe Saldana is back to play Neytiri in the sequel, and her role, like Jake's, will be significantly different, considering that both returning Avatar characters will be parents to five children, with three of them being their biological kids: Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuk (Trinity Bliss). Avatar 2 also include two adopted kids — Spider/Miles Socorro (Jack Champion), and Kiri, who will be played by Sigourney Weaver.
Dr. Norm Spellman
A human Avatar 2 returning character is scientist Dr. Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore). Spellman was deeply invested in the Avatar Program, and was quite knowledgeable in all matters related to the Na'vi. However, despite his interest in the project, it was his friend Jake who was selected to be the avatar. However, Norm acted as an ally and tutor to Jake, helping him to understand their ways. He even stood with Jake when it came time to oppose the R.D.A. He was also one of only a select few humans who wasn't forced out of Pandora at the end of the movie, so it makes sense that Norm is one of the returning Avatar characters.
Parker Selfridge
Parker Selfridge, played by Giovanni Ribisi, was the head of the RDA in Avatar. In order to secure his interests, which was to mine the mineral unobtanium reserves found beneath the Na'vi's sacred tree, Selfridge knew that the Na'vi would have to be removed. Though he cared little for what happened to them, he did allow Jake more time to reason with them, as he preferred diplomacy to violence. But in the end, Selfridge put aside his reservations and allowed his men to do whatever it took. Selfridge survived the events of the movie, and as an Avatar 2 returning character, it will be interesting to see whether or how his morals have shifted.
Dr. Max Patel
In 2018, it was confirmed that Dileep Rao would be reprising his role as Dr. Max Patel in the Avatar sequels. Max was a civilian scientist who worked on the Avatar Program, which was initially aimed at better understanding the Na'vi clans of Pandora. His main responsibility to the Program was to oversee the process that transferred human minds into their avatar bodies. Max, loyal to Dr. Augustine, turned against the RDA and helped Jake throughout the movie. Like Norm, Max was allowed to remain in Pandora at the end of Avatar.
Mo'at (CCH Pounder)
Mo'at (CCH Pounder), the mate to Eyukan and the mother of Neytiri, was the spiritual leader of the tribe in Avatar. She was regarded by the tribe as a wise and benevolent figure whose words carried great weight. She was upset when she discovered that Jake was a spy, but freed him when she realized that his help was necessary for the survival of the clan. At the end of Avatar, it was Mo'at who managed to permanently transfer Jake's essence into his avatar body, and she is bound to have an even bigger role as an Avatar 2 returning character.
Miles Quaritch
Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), an experienced soldier who worked for RDA, was the primary antagonist in Avatar, and is undoubtedly one of the most crucial of Avatar 2's returning characters. Quaritch despised the Na'vi and had no qualms with killing them to achieve the RDA.'s goals of reaching Pandora's richest deposits of unobtanium. Along with the RDA.'s most loyal forces, Col. Quaritch represented textbook development aggression in Avatar's central socio-political themes.
Indeed, Quaritch's ruthless methods put him at odds with human and Na'vi characters alike — even RDA head Parker Selfridge. Quaritch launched devastating attacks on the Na'vi, but was eventually killed by Neytiri. Though Quaritch was dead, Stephen Lang's character is confirmed to be back for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. In a sick twist of fate, the RDA has reengineered the Avatar Program into a way of permanently transferring human minds into Na'vi bodies, called Recombinants, which is how Quaritch is a Na'vi in Avatar 2. The Recombinant Program is a corruption of the Tree of Souls ritual that brought Jake back, and in Avatar: The Way of Water the RDA has used it to restore Avatar's villains.
Lyle Wainfleet
In Avatar, Matt Gerald portrayed secondary antagonist Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, a soldier and mercenary in the employ of the R.D.A., as well as a subordinate of Quaritch. Wainfleet took Quaritch's side in the final conflict between the R.D.A. and the Na'vi. He operated the AMP suit and used it to kill some Na'vi in the last assault. He died after being crushed by a charging rhino-like animal — but like Quaritch, death won't stand in the way of his return to the Avatar franchise, as Lyle Wainfleet will return as a Recombinant in Avatar 2.
Dr. Grace Augustine Isn't Returning (But Sigourney Weaver Is)
Though Avatar 2's returning characters don't include Dr. Grace Augustine, sci-fi icon Sigourney Weaver will be back in the sequel as a new character — Jake and Neytiri's adopted Na'vi child, Kiri. Dr. Augustine died in Avatar after the Na'vi failed to transfer her consciousness to her Na'vi body through the Tree of Life ritual. Kiri is reportedly the biological child of Grace Augustine's Avatar body, although how she was conceived is a complete mystery — one that will no doubt be solved by the mystical and awe-inspiring interconnected ecosystem of Pandora itself.
In Avatar 2, it's possible that Grace's mind and DNA is stored as data in the Tree of Life after she dies, which would allow her to legacy and lineage to continue on in a biological Na'vi child. This is ed by the fact that the Tree of Life would undoubtedly be able to read Grace's desire to help Pandora, and the fact that in the Avatar 2 trailer, Kiri seems to react to footage of Sigourney Weaver's Dr. Augustine. In any case, whether Kiri is totally new or technically one of the returning Avatar characters, it will be interesting how Sigourney Weaver's role in the Avatar franchise will continue to evolve.
