Although it’s not yet certain whether future films in the Avatar franchise will definitely move forward, writer-director James Cameron was thinking ahead while in production on Avatar: The Way of Water. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Cameron explained to help future-proof younger actors quickly aging across each film, he shot scenes from Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 concurrently with the recently released sequel.
The Way of Water introduces several young characters, including Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, who was 7 years old when cast and is now 13) and Spider (Jack Champion, who was 12 when cast but is now 18). Because Champion was “growing like a weed,” the second, third, and first act of the fourth movie had to be done in one production.