James Cameron filmed AvatarTheWayOfTheWater back-to-back with Avatar 3 to avoid what he calls 'the Stranger Things effect.' 'They're supposed to still be in high school [but] they look like they're 27.'
James Cameron shot Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar 3 back-to-back to avoid a major Stranger Things problem. Set more than a decade after 2009's Avatar, the long-awaited sequel returns to Pandora and introduces audiences to Jake and Neytiri's Na'vi family, which includes Neteyam , Lo'ak , Tuk , the adopted Kiri , and the adopted human Spider .
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY During a recent interview with EW, Cameron opened up about one major reason he decided to shoot Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar 3, and the first act of Avatar 4 at the same time. The Avatar writer/director says he wanted to avoid what he calls "the Stranger Things effect," coining a new phrase to describe the obvious growth spurts child actors can have on projects that last multiple years.
Otherwise, you get — and I love Stranger Things — but you get the Stranger Things effect where they're supposed to still be in high school [but] they look like they're 27. You know, I love the show. It's okay, we'll suspend disbelief. We like the characters, but, you know.
While Cameron tried his best, Avatar hasn't avoided the Stranger Things effect entirely. Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed some scenes in Avatar: The Way of Water in which Spider looks considerably younger, such as the torture scene which was filmed when Champion was fourteen, compared to other scenes which were filmed when he was sixteen. Like Stranger Things season 4, production of the Avatar sequels also had to shut down for an extended period when the pandemic hit.
For the most part, the Avatar sequels will avoid the Stranger Things effect by filming back-to-back, a luxury not available to most TV shows. While audiences have mostly accepted actors growing older as an unavoidable part of television, Avatar is a massive movie franchise that prides itself on providing an immersive experience. Seeing a continuity error like a massive age gap between the actors and characters might break that immersion for audiences.
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