“People took that out of context”

Vin Diesel. Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Avatar producer Jon Landau has confirmed that Vin Diesel will not appear in a future instalment of the franchise, despite the actor previously suggesting otherwise.

Back in 2019, the Fast & Furious actor visited the set of James Cameron’s second Avatar film and indicated that he would be “doing” one of the three remaining sequels.

“Probably my favourite in the whole cast [and] the closest in my family is Zoe Saldaña,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Hence Avatar. Hence why I’m doing Avatar, or one of the reasons.”

In a later interview with MTV, the actor seemingly confirmed his involvement in one of the future Avatar sequels, saying: “I love James Cameron and I love the series, and I think it’s safe to say that we will be working together.”

However, Landau has now clarified that the actor was never in talks to join the cast.

In a recent interview, Landau told Empire: “Vin was a fan. He came in, visited the set one day to see what we were doing and people took that out of context.”

Diesel was merely visiting his friend and Guardians Of The Galaxy co-star Zoe Saldaña, who plays Neytiri in the Avatar films.

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’. CREDIT: 20th Century Studios

The plot for the third film has not yet been revealed, but Cameron previously teased that will explore two new Na’vi tribes.

“Fire has a symbolic purpose in the film and there’s a culture that is specifically around that concept. That’s probably saying too much as we speak,” he told Deadline.

“You’re going to meet two completely new cultures in the next film. We met the Omaticaya, we met the Metkayina, and you’re going to meet two new cultures in the next film, and it [will] kind of rove a little more freely around the world of Pandora to different places.”

Avatar: The Way Of Water reached the $1billion (£831m) at the global box office just 14 days after its release, making it the fastest film to pass the milestone in 2022.