Should the story of Avatar continue, fans can expect to see Michelle Yeoh join the franchise, according to James Cameron.
During a recent interview tied to third installment Avatar: Fire and Ash, the famed director and Avatar creator, 71, confirmed that the Oscar-winning actress, 63, will appear in the fourth and fifth films — if they are greenlit.
“Michelle is definitely going to be in 4, if we make 4,” Cameron told Taiwanese outlet TVBS News.
The director went on to elaborate on the big “if,” stating, “So, here’s the thing: the movie industry is depressed right now. Avatar 3 cost a lot of money. We have to do well in order to continue. We have to do well and we need to figure out how to make Avatar movies more inexpensively in order to continue.”
“If we continue and we do 4, we also do 4 and 5 together,” he said, clarifying that like Avatar: The Way of Water and Fire and Ash, the fourth and fifth installments would be filmed simultaneously and follow “one big story.”
He also sprinkled in a few details about Yeoh’s prospective role in the films, sharing that she would be a Na’vi, “performance-capture character” by the name of Paktuelat.
The Wicked actress has been tied to the Avatar franchise for years, but has yet to make her debut on Pandora.
The official Avatar X account first announced her in the role of Dr. Karina Mogue while sharing a birthday tribute to the star in 2019.
In 2021, Avatar producer Jon Landau shared an image of Yeoh on set with the director on Instagram. “Michelle Yeoh kept Jim busy between set-ups while filming Avatar 3!” Landau captioned the shot at the time.
But Cameron later confirmed in 2024 that Yeoh was not set to appear in the third Avatar film.
“So that got a little bit misreported. She will be coming in soon to do her part, which is an interesting, fun character,” Cameron told Entertainment Weekly of Yeoh in 2024. “I mean, we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. This whole thing has been planned for years and years. The scripts were all written years ago, through the end of movie 5.”
“So we’ve been working on parts of 4 even as we go along, mostly because we’ve got this young cast,” he clarified. “We had to shoot them all while they were still young.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cameron, speaking with EW alongside Avatar stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, also offered high praise for the future franchise addition.
“We love Michelle,” he added at the time. “She was always a movie star, but she’s blown up into a huge, huge phenomenon. I look forward to working there.”
Yeoh herself has also confirmed her involvement in the franchise — and offered praise for its creator — previously telling EW, “So, yes, I am in the Avatar sequels and as you know we can’t really talk very much about it. But it’s James Cameron! Come on! I would be the tea lady for James Cameron!”
The actress also confirmed to EW that she “shot for a few weeks,” adding that she “was so impressed with the work that he’s done, the work that he’s doing, the energy.”
“He’s a genius, he’s a walking genius,” Yeoh added. “And I really really enjoyed the experience and I can’t wait to go back soon, I hope.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters now.