When Will Avatar 2’s Trailer Release Online?

The first trailer for Avatar 2, now officially titled Avatar: The Way of Water, is coming to theaters – but will it release online? After 13 years of anticipation, the long-awaited Avatar sequel will release on December 16, 2022. Plot details for Avatar 2 remain a mystery to date, but the movie is confirmed to show a different side of Pandora with underwater locations now that the planet’s surface has been compromised by the first film’s human attack.

While Avatar has faced some contemporary criticism aimed at its purportedly simplistic story, the James Cameron film was a landmark in the industry thanks to its revolutionary use of augmented reality and 3D technology. It is precisely for that reason that the Avatar sequel took so long to make, as James Cameron was waiting for modern moviemaking techniques to catch up with what he had in mind for the film. Given how far the motion-capture and virtual reality tools have come in the last few years, partially because of Cameron’s efforts, it is safe to say that the director’s decision to wait was for the best.

While the full extent of Avatar 2‘s new technologies will only be revealed once the movie hits theaters, there will be a first look at Avatar: The Way of Water‘s visuals in the Avatar 2 trailer. Confirming what had been previously speculated, the Avatar 2 trailer will be attached to another Disney film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, – and it will remain a theater-exclusive trailer for one week. After that, the Avatar 2 trailer will be released online.

This is not a new trailer release strategy in Hollywood. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, for example, had its first trailer attached to Hobbs and Shaw, and it was exclusively shown in theaters for a few days before it was released online. Given how intrinsically linked to the big screen James Cameron’s Avatar franchise is – the first Avatar is still the highest-grossing film of all time – it makes perfect sense that the Avatar 2 trailer will be released in theaters first before it drops online. Much of the anticipation surrounding Avatar 2 has to do with the cinematic experience the movie will deliver and if it can top what the original Avatar delivered, especially in terms of 3D innovation.

Those who want to watch the Avatar 2 trailer online will have to wait a week after it releases in tandem with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. By encouraging audiences to go to the theaters to see the Avatar 2 trailer, James Cameron is setting the stage for what could be an incredible box-office performance in December. While it remains to be seen how well received the Avatar 2 trailer will be received by both those who will watch it in theaters and those who will watch it at home, Avatar: The Way of Water is shaping up to be a massive cinematic event regardless.