New Avatar 2 concept art shows off the underwater "Crabsuit"

The Avatar sequels are coming. Slowly but surely, the four follow-on movies from the formerly highest-grossing movie of all time are making their way to cinemas. Not this year. Not next year. But December 2022.

That's a long wait, but to tide us over, producer Jon Landau has been slowly releasing new behind-the-scenes photos of James Cameron's underwater epic. The latest update offers a look at the Crabsuit, "a human-driven multifunction submersible [and] one of the many new RDA vehicles that will be seen in the Avatar sequels."

As you would expect from the name, it looks like a robotic crab that's able to retract its arms to float around in the sea. We've already seen hints at underwater creatures to come, and now it looks like they'll be facing off against a human threat once again.

• All the movie release dates coming your way in 2020
• The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time

Cameron previously teased that the Avatar sequels (of which there are four coming to cinemas between 2022 and 2028) will be “spending quite a bit of time on the water, around the water, in the water.” The first Avatar 2 concept art also showcased the beautiful new fauna and flora we can expect to see on our second trip to Pandora.

Landau has been speaking about Avatar 2 a fair bit these past few months, recently teasing the sequel's premise and hinting that the first sequel will be a family affair. Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) will have three children in the Avatar sequels: first-born Neteyam, second-born son Lo’ak, and the youngest of the brood, daughter Tuktirey.

“This is the story of the Sully family and what one does to keep their family together," he said. "Jake and Neytiri have a family in this movie, they are forced to leave their home, they go out and explore the different regions of Pandora.”

Production on Avatar 2 has resumed filming in New Zealand, having paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. The effects of the outbreak have been felt heavily by the sequels, as they have all been delayed by a year by Disney – expect Avatar 2 in cinemas in December 2022. Not long now...