Could Michelle Rodriguez Return In Avatar 3?

The Fast and Furious star was pivotal in Avatar and her name alone makes a her an interesting casting option for Avatar 3.

Trudy Chacon close-up Avatar
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A sequel now looks to be all but guaranteed for Avatar: The Way of Water. However, as James Cameron’s Avatar plans continue to unfold, so does speculation about future plots, settings and cast. Surely, among the few absentees from the first film, one name definitely stands out, which begs the question: could Michelle Rodriguez return in Avatar 3?

After all, Avatar: The Way of Water brought back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald to reprise their parts from the original film. Even Sigourney Weaver returned in a mysterious new role. Given that Cameron has a vision for at least three more Avatar movies, and he’s already shown his willingness to expand the cast with Kate Winslet as the more notable addition. Still, there might be some leeway for fans to see Rodriguez meet up with her blue friends once more.

In the first Avatar film, Rodriguez plays Captain Trudy Chacon, one of the former marines currently deployed on Pandora for reconnaissance purposes by the powerful Resources Development Administration (RDA), although her role is mostly that of an aircraft pilot who’s not enlisted for battle. This is obvious from the first time Trudy meets Jake Sully, as she’s mainly assigned to showing him around the RDA’s base.

Furthermore, Trudy’s job is seen when she first takes the human science team, made up of Jake, Dr. Grace Augustine and Dr. Norm Spellman, to inner Na’vi territory. Her superior, Colonel Quaritch, takes on Corporal Lyle Wainfleet to watch over the entire operation. Rodriguez’s character is overall the same type of tough, driven woman her fans often see her play, and Trudy’s differences with the rest of the SecOps forces are obvious from the start.

Trudy’s breakthrough moment in Avatar comes when she refuses to participate in the bombing of the Na’vi Hometree, as violent conflict wasn’t why she signed up to come to Pandora. From then on, she joins the pro-Na’vi humans. This results in Trudy helping Jake, Norm, and Grace escape the RDA’s facilities. But in the movie’s final act, her Samson airship is gunned down by Quaritch, killing her in the resulting explosion.

Was Michelle Rodriguez In Avatar 2?

Avatar: The Way of Water takes place 12 years after the first film. Jake and Neytiri have formed a family that includes Dr. Grace’s intriguing daughter Kiri, and even Norm has adjusted to his new lab life. All in all, Avatar 2 makes it seem like the time to mourn heroes of the past is well beyond the protagonists. Grace’s body is the biggest throwback, and not out of nostalgia, but due to its importance in Kiri’s story arc.

While Trudy’s sacrifice in Avatar is probably well remembered by Jake, Neytiri, and the rest of the settlement, not only is she completely absent from the sequel after her death, she’s not really mentioned at all. The characters have had time to accept and move past her loss.

How Can Michelle Rodriguez Return In Avatar 3?
Colonel Miles Quaritch as Na’vi on screen in Avatar: The Way of Water
Nevertheless, The Way of Water brought back from the dead Avatar’s big bad guy, Colonel Miles Quaritch. In the sequel, he adopts a Na’vi avatar, as before deployment he had already signed off his entire self to the RDA. Quaritch’s consciousness in The Way of Water predates the events of the first movie, but even in Na’vi form, he does become aware of how he died during the film.

This means Cameron essentially opened the doors for any character killed in Avatar to come back in the future via this same experiment. Regardless of that, can Michelle Rodriguez’ character specifically return this way? Although it is a possibility, that would require Trudy to have landed on Pandora in a similar capacity to the actual soldiers Quaritch commands.

As mentioned above, Captain Trudy Chacon did not arrive at Pandora in a military capacity. She wasn’t privy to most details of the RDA’s operation on the planet on the same level as Quaritch and his troops, so it’s unlikely her consciousness would have been uploaded for safekeeping under the same agreement. Quaritch’s revival already comes with a few asterisks, and pulling off the same trick twice would be strange for Cameron, especially if he has so many other ideas on his mind.

Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon in helicopter death scene Avatar
If Trudy were brought back, applying the same rules from Quaritch’s case would give her a personality that’s not interested in fighting the Na’vi or destroying Pandora. As such, the humans have no reason to revive her, whereas her friends lack the means or set of beliefs to do it if given the chance. Simply put, in spite of the fact that former RDA members can be revived, Michelle Rodriguez’s coming back as Trudy is quite the long shot at best.