During a chat with Variety, Cameron said, “We’re going through the finish of the VFX now. we have been for the last two years, but we’re really coming down to the wire now. I want to be thematically consistent about the way music was used and underscored during dialogue scenes and things like that. So I have rewatched it. It’s a pretty good ride, I have to say.”

The 2022 sequel, which earned 2.3 billion dollars globally, returned to theatres on October 2 ahead of the third film’s release. The Way of Water expanded the family saga of Jake Sully and Neytiri. In the interview, Cameron shared that he made a major story change late in the process. Interestingly, he brought back Jake’s legendary Toruk, the massive red flying creature from the original 2009 film. “I’ve always been waiting for the question, ‘Why doesn’t he just go get the big red bird and kill everybody like he used to do?’ I went, ‘Oh, he’s got to go get the bird.’ I was saving it for a later film. I was like, ‘F*** that! He should get the bird. Get the Toruk.’”

The director rewrote scenes and shot new material around this idea, saying the addition fits “beautifully” into Jake’s arc. Behind the scenes, he is also reshaping the way his team approaches visual effects. Moving away from a purely technical mindset, Cameron has fostered what he calls a “creative culture” among VFX artistes. This new approach has led to some shots being approved on first viewing.