Can we talk about the water effects in the new Avatar 2 trailer?

Two Avatar characters swimming underwater
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

From the Papyrus poster font to the ridiculous plot, the first Avatar movie has become something a figure of fun over the years, despite its enormous box office takings. But now, only 13 years later, the sequel is on the away – and there's no denying that the CGI looks pretty incredible.

A new trailer reveals that a significant amount of Avatar: The Way of Water will take place, yep, underwater. As any 3D artist will know, water, like fire, is one of the hardest things to recreate digitally – but judging by the new footage, the new Avatar film could be a game-changer when it comes to achieving the wet look. (Check out the best 3D modelling software if you fancy trying it out yourself.) 

The trailer is full of visually stunning underwater footage, complete with realistic physics and movement alongside the plethora of CGI creatures. Unlike Mark Zuckerberg's underwhelming foray into the 3D metaverse this year, these are no PS1-era graphics. 

Indeed, just as the graphics for 2009's original Avatar film were way ahead of their time, the sequel looks like it's set to be just as stunning – and worth catching on the biggest screen possible.

Twitter users are already gushing over the new graphics. "I can't express my feelings and thoughts on this tweet but the visuals on the new Avatar: The Way of Water are just the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life," one comments. "I've seen the CGI improve very well over the years from Avatar & some before that but this movie looks just awesome!" As well as the trailer, we were also given a new poster for the film. This is rather less impressive, opting for the 'floating heads' design that literally every movie goes for these days.

Avatar 2 poster

Hardly the greatest poster of all time, but hey (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

As for the story, who knows? As many have pointed out, the trailer gives away previous little information about what's actually going to go down on our visit trip to Pandora in 13 years – but if it looks this good, who cares? BUt most importantly of all, as the trailer confirms, the logo is no longer Papyrus. That said, something's still off.

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Daniel Piper
Senior News Editor

Daniel Piper is Creative Bloq’s Senior News Editor. As the brand’s Apple authority, he covers all things Mac, iPhone, iPad and the rest. He also reports on the worlds of design, branding and tech. Daniel joined Future in 2020 (an eventful year, to say the least) after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more. Outside of Future, Daniel is a global poetry slam champion and has performed at festivals including Latitude, Bestival and more. He is the author of Arbitrary and Unnecessary: The Selected Works of Daniel Piper (Selected by Daniel Piper).