James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director behind major productions like the Avatar franchise, has shared his opinion about superhero films, and how they’re so formulaic that they often lack an emotional hook. The director is currently promoting the latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and during one of his recent interviews, he has said that the superhero genre doesn’t ever pose any kind of threat to its characters.
The Terminator director appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, where he spoke about his storytelling style, and how he’s still able to capture human emotion while depending on advanced technology. “You can’t tell a love story without putting it at risk,” Cameron explains about the main storyline in Avatar. “And when you’re telling a multipart kind of franchise story or saga over a number of films, you could put it at a great deal of risk.”
Avatar 3 will see the Na’vi dealing with grief after the tragic events of the previous film. Jake and Neytiri are still facing the loss of their son, Neteyam, who Cameron believes is a driving force in the story. “And then losing a child, the ultimate horror, the ultimate unimaginable for any parent. What does that do to them and their relationship? And how does that really sharpen up those conflicts that they’ve been having?” He admits that, even though these emotionally sharp moments are not strictly necessary, they make the story richer. Unlike what happens in many contemporary superhero films:
“We don’t shy from that stuff, we go down what some movies might consider a side alley that they don’t really need to spend time on. I don’t think that superhero films, for example, deal with grief. You just want to get back to your baseline state, which is the superhero is doing the superhero thing that they’re supposed to do. And they’re sort of never deeply threatened emotionally or psychologically. Not enough to change them, right?
“Because we don’t want to change them. They’ve been going strong for 40 years, 50 years. We don’t want to change them too much. They need to rebound. But what you find from grief in real life, is it changes you, and you don’t change back.”
James Cameron Will Try to Become King of the World Again With ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
In just a few days, James Cameron will enter the spotlight again with the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third entry in his wildly successful sci-fi series. Although the previous Avatar movies have been box office hits, Cameron will now stand against a different movie landscape, where viewers don’t exactly flock to theaters and have become close to the convenience of streaming. The director is aware of this, and he admits he’s a bit nervous about the release of Avatar 3:
“I was nervous before every film I’ve released. We’re three years after The Way of Water. Audiences have not come back to cinemas. So, there are market forces that are kind of above my pay grade. And then there’s, ‘What do people think about sequels?’ Do they see it as an opportunity to follow characters that they love, or do they feel like it’s just a sequel? There are so many variables going into the release of a film.
“I feel good about the film. I feel it sticks to landing. It fulfills my goals as an artist. But like I said, there are market forces outside my control.”
- Release Date
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December 19, 2025
- Runtime
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195 Minutes