James Cameron Wants to Take ‘Avatar’ into Animation with New Series Idea

James Cameron’s Avatar universe might be heading somewhere new, and this time, it’s animated. While the story of Pandora has so far played out on the big screen in massive blockbuster films, Cameron says he’s thinking about telling fresh stories from the Avatar world in an animated anthology format.

In an interview with Empire magazine for their Avatar: Fire and Ash issue, Cameron explained he’s already been talking to Disney about the idea. “I said, ‘Look, I want to do an animated anthology series that’s essentially in the world, but stories that you wouldn’t have expected from that world’,” he shared.

He even hinted that it could include a full-length animated movie, either for streaming or theatres. “There might even be an animated feature in there,” he added.

This animated idea wouldn’t just repeat what fans have already seen. Cameron says he wants to dive into the kind of stories that haven’t made it into the films.

He mentioned how The Animatrix explored new areas of The Matrix world, and how that same approach could bring more depth to Pandora. “These are all great examples for how we can add texture and baroque detail to the world of Avatar,” he said.

The kind of stories he’s imagining go way beyond the characters we already know. “Backstory on characters and tangential stuff that happened off-camera within the movies. Who first landed on Pandora? The first expedition. You could go anywhere you want,” he explained.

Cameron admitted this idea is still very early in development. “We haven’t done much with that yet,” he said, noting that he’s been focused on making The Way of Water and Fire and Ash. Still, the plan is moving forward. “We’re still gathering our stories and that sort of thing,” he said. “And I’ve got to find the boutique filmmakers, the animators, that want to do it.”

Over the years, Avatar has already grown beyond the movie theatre. There are video games like Frontiers of Pandora, and the Pandora – The World of Avatar attraction at Disney World. But this new step into animation could open up even more of Pandora for fans to explore. It would let creators tell stories without being tied to the timelines or budgets of the big movies, and that means more freedom to experiment.

Even though there’s no release date or confirmed team behind the project yet, the idea shows that Cameron isn’t finished dreaming up new ways to expand his sci-fi world. If the animated series happens, it could be a fresh way to explore the beauty and mystery of Pandora, all through the lens of animation.

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