With Avatar: The Way of Water out of the way, production for the film’s third installment will soon get into full swing before its scheduled release next year. Fortunately, it’s not just the characters that we’re going to see again in the later film — even creatures that we’ve met in the previous film have been confirmed to receive a comeback.
Avatar 2 producer Jon Landau revealed that Payakan, the Tulkun that was an outcast from both the Metkayina Clan and the rest of its Tulkun family, will appear in Avatar 3. During an interview with The Wrap, Landau reaffirmed that viewers will see Payakan once more and that what the creature is to Lo’ak is similar to a boy and his pet dog.
Interestingly, the producer didn’t expect that people would immediately fall for the outcast Tulkun, which may be the reason why the creature will return in Avarar 3.
“I always viewed Payakan a little bit like Lassie. And I would say this is a story like a boy and his dog, and they’re both outcasts and they need each other. And I thought that Payakan was going to be a character as you describe them. People wouldn’t see that at first. And we had to keep saying Payakan is a character. And when we would ask people about characters, Payakan was always on that list and included them, which was unusual.
“Payakan will be back.”
In Avatar: The Way of Water, the Tulkun was hunted by the RDA due to its “amrita,” which scientist claim could stop the aging of humans. However, it would mean that the rest of the creature’s corpse would be discarded since it’s no longer needed. The reason why Payakan was labeled an outcast was because it was assumed that he was the cause of multiple Tulkuns’ death, not the RDA, and received the reputation of killer as a result.
It’s currently unknown how Payakan will play a role in Avatar 3, especially when the film’s director James Cameron revealed that the third installment will focus on “fire” and that two new Na’vi cultures will be introduced. Considering that Payakan is a giant sea creature, it will be interesting to see if this creature is going to have a prominent role or if it will be the last time we see him.
Avatar 3 doesn’t have an official name just yet. Fortunately, Zoë Saldana confirmed that shooting for the third Avatar installment will begin around the summer of 2023. The film is scheduled to hit theaters sometime in 2024.