New “Avatar 2” Images Tease Submersible Called The Crabsuit

James Cameron’s Avatar 2 resumed filming in New Zealand in late May. Since then, producer Jon Landau has been a one-man Avatar update machine, revealing photos from set that have kept us apprised of what’s happening with Cameron’s long-gestating follow-up. The latest is a look at the brand new submersible the “Crabsuit.”

It’s well known that Cameron is a real-life ocean adventurer, having piloted a minisubmarine of his own design to the bottom of the planet’s deepest recess some seven miles beneath the western Pacific Ocean in 2012. This was a record-breaking dive at the time. (Cameron, as competitive as he is ambitious, recently challenged the new record-holder for the world’s deepest dive.) In his Avatar sequels, Cameron is once again putting nature front and center, especially the mesmerizing aquatic world he adores. Thanks to Jon Landau, we now have a glimpse of a brand new piece of technology that will be deployed in the sequel. Behold the “Crabsuit”:

If you’re wondering what RDA stands for, we’ve got you—that’s the Resources Development Administration in Avatar, the organization charged with exploring the alien planet of Pandora.

We’re going to have to wait a bit longer to see Avatar 2—the release was recently extended from December 2021 to December 16, 2022, due, of course, to COVID-19. Cameron and his vast team are working on four sequels in total. The tentative release dates are as follows: Avatar 3 on December 20, 2024, Avatar 4 on December 18, 2026, and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028.

When Avatar 2 finally does premiere, it’ll be a decade-plus since we last visited with the Na’vi tribe of Pandora. The cast includes returning stars Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Dileep Rao, Stephen Lang, and Matt Gerald. New cast members include Kate Winslet, Edie Falco, Michelle Yeoh, Vin Diesel, Jemaine Clement, and Oona Chaplin.

Featured image: ‘Avatar 2’ concept art shared by producer Jon Landau. Courtesy Jon Landau/Walt Disney Studios

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