James Cameron wanted to do most of the work with the sequels right away Avatars. Except Waterway having arrived at the cinema a few days ago, the director tried to take advantage of this and anticipate it by making other shots for the next films. And the reason is very specific. According to James Cameron, his desire was to avoid strange things effect. For this reason, during the filming of Via del Aqua, he also filmed scenes for the third and fourth films.

James Cameron: What is the Stranger Things Effect?

But what exactly does James Cameron mean by “Stranger Things effect”? The director refers to the growth of the young characters of the series, which over the years has become too obvious to be credible. Therefore, he was afraid that even his young actors, introduced in Avatar: Running Water, would grow up too fast, making the story unbelievable. Thus, with the Stranger Things effect, James Cameron is associated with a growth spurt in young actors involved in multi-year projects. In a specific case, it is Trinity Jo-Lee Blisschosen at the age of 7 to play Took in the sequel, although she is now 13 years old. Jack Champion today he is 18, but when he was cast, he was only 12, and, according to the director, he was growing rapidly. For this reason, Cameron chose to film the second and third films, as well as the first act of the fourth, in the same production. To the microphones electronic warfarehe declared:

Otherwise, you get a Stranger Things effect (I love the show) where they should still be in high school even though they look 27 years old.

This passage, of course, concerns only the young composition. Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington they play the main characters, Neytiri and Jake Sully, and are presented in the sequel as the parents of four children. According to Zoya Saldana, shooting several films at the same time was a worthy thing:

We read the scripts, we talked a lot, we figured out the beats that made 2 from 3. It was never awkward for me, but maybe it depends on the amount of time we spent preparing for it all. James Cameron brings you into the whole process and listens to you. Any requirement you have, pay close attention to that detail and try to accommodate and account for your contribution to the best of your ability.