James Cameron’s Avatar Future Is Following The Wrong Sci-Fi Franchises

Though anticipation is high for the continuation of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, a recent comment about his inspirations for the sci-fi series raises questions about whether the director is headed in the right direction. In 2009, James Cameron released the first Avatar movie to incredible acclaim. Though the movie saw no movement for 13 years, in 2022, Cameron finally made and released the sequel, Avatar: Way of Water, and confirmed that several more Avatar movies are on the horizon. At this time, Cameron has said that he plans to make five total Avatar movies.

In an interview with People Magazine, James Cameron noted that his inspirations for Avatar include sci-fi franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. In particular, he said, “Star Trek, Star Wars, the world-building franchises that have been around since I was a kid, those were my inspirations.” While these comparisons definitely make sense, as those franchises and Avatar share a genre and an audience, there are some issues with James Cameron following in the footsteps of these beloved series. Mainly, this is because Star Wars and Star Trek have vastly different worlds than Avatar does.

Cameron’s Star Trek And Star Wars Inspiration Is Wrong For Avatar

Although it’s understandable that James Cameron would draw inspiration from beloved sci-fi franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek, these movie series don’t actually coincide with Avatar that well. The main reason for this is that, while Star Wars and Star Trek are more intergalatic, focusing on the building of an entire solar system or universe, Avatar is focused purely on Pandora. Where Star Wars and Star Trek are concerned with various different species and climates, Avatar has dedicated itself to the Na’avi and their fight against the humans. Therefore, the franchises are tackling different goals.

The problem with James Cameron following in Star Wars’ and Star Trek’s footsteps is that he might overinflate Avatar when it would really benefit from staying small. With three more movies left, Avatar has a lot of space to explore, however, if the movies leave Pandora too soon, that could be a big problem for the franchise. Thus far, audiences have learned about two Avatar Na’avi tribes, and realistically, it would be best to continue on this track.

Dune Would Be A Much Better Template For James Cameron’s Avatar

In reality, the better sci-fi franchise for James Cameron to pull from is Dune. The two series have a lot in common, not only in terms of genre, but concerning plot and characters as well. Both Dune and Avatar are focused on a single planet, but more than that, a single race on that planet. Their sequels do a good job of raising the stakes and expanding the world, and they must continue on that track. Overall, James Cameron would likely benefit from seeing how Frank Herbert handled the expansion of Dune when considering how to move forward with Avatar.