James Cameron On What Avatar 2 Has In Common With LOTR & Star Wars

James Cameron, the director of Avatar, explains what sequel movie Avatar: The Way of Water has in common with The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron talks similarities between his growing franchise and pop culture phenomenons Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. While film and television franchises have always been a staple of the entertainment industry, the prominence of streaming in modern times has brought franchise story-telling to a new level, with properties such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars expanding their vast catalogs via Disney+ shows and live-action films. Many streaming services have backed large-scale fantasy epics as they seek to break into expanded universe territory such as Amazon’s The Rings of Power and Netflix’s The Witcher, though Cameron’s plans with Avatar: The Way of Water through Avatar 5 solely exist in the film space, for now.

During a conversation with fellow director Robert Rodriguez for Variety, Cameron describes his influences when crafting the highly anticipated Avatar sequel, citing the ever-evolving Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises in particular. Hinting at his ultimate goals with the burgeoning Avatar franchise, the acclaimed director explains that he hoped to create an epic fantasy story with intriguing enough world-building to support the many future installments planned. See what Cameron had to say about the process below:

“It’s dangerous to tell a story with a lot of characters because it can lack focus. But I just took that challenge on. There’s this epic landscape with epic storytelling. I was trying to emulate a ‘Star Wars’ universe or ‘Lord of the Rings.’ Something that’s a persistent world that people can come back to and enjoy over time. If you look at something like ‘The Rings of Power,’ with those multiple storylines and interesting characters, that’s what I was aspiring to. But they had a guide; I didn’t. I had to write my own ‘Silmarillion’ or ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the form of notes. But I also didn’t want to do it all alone. I knew that I was going to do multiple movies, so I created a little writers’ room like you would for a TV show.”

Related: The Disney Movie James Cameron’s Avatar Really Parallels (Not Pocahontas)

What Early Reviews For Avatar 2 Are Saying

Though the Avatar franchise only put out one film before investing in four more sequels over a decade after the 2009 movie, Cameron has good reason to trust that viewer interest in the property remains high. After all, Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time, outperforming even the highest-grossing Star Wars and MCU films, and was even popular enough to become a staple at Disney World with The World of Pandora. Since Avatar: The Way of Water has yet to debut in theaters, it’s too early to say whether Cameron’s gamble has paid off, but early reviews are promising.

The most-talked about aspect of 2009’s Avatar was its sheer visual spectacle, bolstered by the use of cutting-edge 3D technology. Given the massive success of the previous movie in addition to Cameron’s comments about hoping to emulate Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, it’s necessary for Avatar: The Way of Water to stun audiences with a comparable feast for the eyes as well as maintaining long-term interest in the franchise with an intriguing plot and fascinating world-building. Luckily, early reviews show that the film succeeds on at least a few counts.

So far, critics have praised Avatar: The Way of Water‘s “stunning visuals,” “thrillingly tactile” world, and “breathtaking” spectacle. On the less positive side, reviewers haven pointed out that the over three-hour Avatar: The Way of Water is “overstuffed,” “overlong,” “stretched thin on story,” “lopsided,” and “meandering.” Despite those critiques, Avatar: The Way of Water has garnered largely positive reviews and been described as a can’t-miss experience like no other, which will likely lead to it being rousing success upon the sequel’s theatrical debut and a promising start to Cameron’s franchise.

More: Avatar 2’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Highlights 3 Things About The Sequel

Source: Variety