James Cameron Confirms You Won’t See Michelle Yeoh in Avatar Until 2029 at Least

Even earlier her Oscar triumph for Everything Everywhere All astatine Once, we were successful the midst of a Michelle Yeoh roar time. Lucky for us, that’s not going to extremity anytime soon. While the archetypal Wicked is hitting theaters this fall, Star Trek: Section 31 is arriving connected Paramount+ aboriginal adjacent year, and Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099 is present successful production, different high-profile Yeoh project—her engagement successful James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar franchise—is further distant than we thought.

That’s due to the fact that Yeoh’s quality isn’t really going to look successful the 3rd film, whose rubric was precocious confirmed arsenic Avatar: Fire and Ash. She’ll alternatively debut successful the 4th film, which is owed in 2029—a afloat decennary aft her casting arsenic a idiosyncratic named Dr. Karina Mogue was announced back successful 2019.

This tidbit was confirmed by nary little than James Cameron himself, who told Entertainment Weekly astatine the D23 normal that Yeoh is not successful portion three—”that got a small spot misreported”—though she volition so beryllium successful parts 4 and five.

“She volition beryllium coming successful soon to bash her part, which is an interesting, amusive character,” Cameron said. “I mean, we’re getting up of ourselves now. This full happening has been planned for years and years. The scripts were each written years ago, done the extremity of movie five. So we’ve been moving connected parts of 4 adjacent arsenic we spell along, mostly due to the fact that we’ve got this young cast. We had to sprout them each portion they were inactive young.”

The EW nonfiction notes that a wide circulated photograph of Yeoh connected acceptable with Cameron was taken portion Avatar was filming its 2nd and 3rd entries backmost to back, on with the archetypal portion of the fourth, precisely due to the fact that of those rapidly aging young stars. But though fans won’t spot Yeoh successful Fire and Ash, Cameron knows it’ll beryllium worthy the hold to spot her successful Avatar‘s world: “We emotion Michelle … She was ever a movie star, but she’s blown up into a huge, immense phenomenon.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash opens December 19, 2025.

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