Fans who wish to travel with Michelle Yeoh to Pandora in James Cameron’s Avatar franchise will have to wait longer than initially expected.
With several high-profile projects on the horizon including Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount+ and Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099 currently in production, Yeoh will have much to look forward to. Additionally, Wicked is set to hit theatres this fall, adding to the excitement.
However, according to Cameron, Yeoh will not appear in the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film of the franchise. Instead, her character, Dr. Karina Mogue, a scientist, is set to debut in the fourth instalment scheduled for 2029. “Michelle Yeoh won’t be in 3. She’s in 4 and 5. So that got a little bit misreported. She will be coming in soon to do her part, which is an interesting, fun character.”
This update clarifies earlier misreports about her participation in the third film, which is slated for release on 19 December 2025. Cameron shared these details at the D23 Expo, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. He continued, “I mean, we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. This whole thing has been planned for years and years. The scripts were all written years ago, through the end of movie 5. So we’ve been working on parts of 4 even as we go along, mostly because we’ve got this young cast. We had to shoot them all while they were still young.”
A widely shared photo of Michelle Yeoh with Cameron on the Avatar set was, in fact, taken during these concurrent filming sessions. While fans may be disappointed not to see her in Avatar: Fire and Ash, Cameron assures that her appearance in later films will be well worth the wait. He reiterated his admiration for Yeoh, “We love Michelle. She was always a movie star, but she’s blown up into a huge, huge phenomenon. I look forward to working there.”
Looking forward, Avatar 4 is set to release on 21 December 2029, with Avatar 5 following on 19 December 2031. Cameron has promised that the upcoming films will venture into emotionally charged and challenging territories for the characters, elevating the narrative stakes higher than ever before.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, games, and comics — you name it. When she’s not reading or geeking out about the latest shows on Netflix, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of meeting her idols.
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