Avatar 2: How Sigourney Weaver Is Returning (Despite Her Death)

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding James Cameron’s Avatar 2 is just how Sigourney Weaver will return in the sequel. One of the film’s most memorable characters, Weaver’s Dr. Grace Augustine, died at the hands of Colonel Miles Quaritch, Avatar‘s villain played by Stephen Lang. Given what’s known about the upcoming movie, it’s likely Weaver’s return indicates her character is back — but is no longer human.

Dr. Grace Augustine was the head of the Avatar program and was responsible for setting up English schools for would-be Na’vi multilinguists. As one of the leads of the Avatar program, Weaver’s character Dr. Grace was highly sympathetic towards the Na’vi, believing that destroying their ecosystem would do more harm than good. This stance, naturally, led her to clash with Colonel Quaritch’s militarization efforts numerous times.

Despite dying a heroic death in the first film, Sigourney Weaver is poised to return in the James Cameron sequel, Avatar 2. What hasn’t been revealed is how exactly she’ll be returning to the mystical world of Pandora. In Avatar, Jake Sully brought Dr. Augustine to the Na’vi’s sacred Tree of Souls to help transfer the character from her human body to her Avatar one. Unfortunately, she passed away before the transfer could be complete. Based on what’s known about Weaver’s role in Avatar 2, it seems likely that somehow, Dr. Augustine’s essence was transferred — but to some sort of underwater creature.

Much of Avatar 2 features underwater scenes, many of which contain Sigourney Weaver — but using motion capture technology. Weaver herself revealed that her scenes were so complex that she had to hold her breath for six minutes; this, and the Avatar set photos, suggest Weaver’s character isn’t human. By taking into account the scenes that Weaver has filmed, it’s not hard to imagine her character returning as an underwater humanoid/creature from Pandora. These motion capture suits are only required for those who are playing Na’vi (or other Pandorean natives), so it makes sense that Sigourney Weaver would be playing a creature that isn’t explicitly human.

In the Avatar universe, many characters have defied death, including the main character Jake Sully, who was permanently transferred into his Avatar body at the end of the film thanks to The Tree of Souls. Details regarding The Tree of Souls are vague, but the holy site for the Na’vi is mystical in its ways and is capable of holding onto and manifesting consciousness. Since Augustine’s physical form has been shed, it’s possible the tree has held onto the remnants of her consciousness. Her character will likely have to relearn many aspects of herself, seeing as the transfer was never fully complete, which is where flashback scenes fit into the Avatar 2 story.

Set photos from Avatar 2 show Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore (a human working under Dr. Grace Augstine) on the set of their genetics lab from the first film. At the end of Avatar, all humans but Jake Sully’s friends were exiled from Pandora, leaving their settlement empty, so revisiting this set indicates that there will be flashbacks of Sigourney Weaver’s character — likely recounted to her to help speed up her memory. With both flashbacks and an Avatar body in tow, Sigourney Weaver is set to have an exciting return in Avatar 2.