Michelle Rodriguez says James Cameron wanted to bring her back for more Avatar, but she said no

(Image credit: Disney)

Michelle Rodriguez didn’t want to return for more Avatar movies, despite James Cameron’s idea to bring her back. In the first film, she played pilot Trudy, a confidante to Jake Sully who sacrificed herself to save the Na’vi.

"Dude, when I saw Jim [Cameron] recently, he was like, 'I was thinking, What if Michelle came back? A lot of the other characters came back [in The Way of Water],'" Rodriguez said to Vanity Fair. "I was like, 'You can't do that – I died as a martyr. Jim, I came back in Resident Evil, I wasn't supposed to. I came back in Machete, I wasn't supposed to. I came back with Letty, I wasn't supposed to. We can't do a fourth, that would be overkill!'

Adding why she thinks she keeps being brought back in franchises, she added: "I don't understand, it's so weird. I guess they don't know what to do with the girl who doesn't have a boyfriend. 'She doesn't have a boyfriend. Should we keep her alive, or kill her?'"

Of course, her character wouldn’t have been the first to return from the dead in the franchise. Stephen Lang returned as Colonel Miles Quaritch, who was revived in Avatar form after his character was killed by Neytiri in the original movie.

Sigourney Weaver also returned in a new role after her character Dr. Grace Augustine died in the first movie. She plays Kiri, Grace’s 14-year-old daughter who was adopted by the Sully family.

Avatar currently has three more movies planned in the franchise, including Avatar 3, which has already been filmed and is out in 2024. From what we know so far, the movie will introduce the volcano-dwelling "Ash People" clan, with David Thewlis, Michelle Yeoh and Oona Chaplin joining the cast. Avatar 4 lands in 2026 and Avatar 5 arrives in 2028.

For more upcoming movies, here’s our round-up of all of the movie release dates in 2023 and beyond.