Credit: 20th Century StudiosMichelle Rodriguez is a movie star that has appeared in quite a few franchises. She is one of the leads in the long-standing Fast & Furious franchise, and she was in the first Avatar movie. However, she recently revealed that she told James Cameron “no” when the director pitched her to return for Avatar 2.
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Avatar: The Way of Water (Avatar 2) brought back many original movie characters. Both Sigourney Weaver (Kiri) and Stephen Lang (Miles Quaritch) were welcomed back to the franchise, albeit as Na’vi versions of their characters. We understand wanting to connect the franchise, especially as Avatar is now planning a massive amount of movies in the future. However, that does not necessarily mean that every character should return.
Michelle Rodriguez certainly feels that way, as the actress did not want to return from the dead for a fourth time. We do not blame her. Though she flat-out refused the offer from Cameron, her reasoning is quite hilarious.
According to Rodriguez, “Dude, when I saw Jim [Cameron] recently, he was like, ‘I was thinking, “What if Michelle came back? A lot of the other characters came back [in ‘The Way of Water’].” ‘I was like, ‘You can’t do that—I died as a martyr.'”
Rodriguez has a point, as her Trudy Chacón character died for the greater good of the Na’vi people, and bringing her back would have made her sacrifice seem a bit unnecessary.
“I came back in ‘Resident Evil,’ I wasn’t supposed to. I came back in ‘Machete,’ I wasn’t supposed to. I came back with ‘Letty,’ I wasn’t supposed to. We can’t do a fourth [time], that would be overkill!” She added.
For some very odd reason, Michelle Rodriguez keeps being the woman returning from the dead. She credits this weird anomaly to her characters: “I guess they don’t know what to do with the girl who doesn’t have a boyfriend. ‘She doesn’t have a boyfriend. Should we keep her alive, or kill her.”
We would argue that she is also quite brave for turning down Cameron’s offer, as the Avatar franchise is likely rather lucrative. Avatar made a staggering $2.8 billion at the box office, keeping its highest-grossing status intact since its release in 2009. Avatar 2 has reached $2.3 billion, making it the third highest-grossing movie ever.
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We are unsure what kind of contract that would have resulted in for Michelle Rodriguez after Avatar 2, but she could have been saying goodbye to millions of dollars. This is speculation, but we salute her for wanting to stand by her word and not have another character return from the dead.
At least she is set to have a huge year, as Rodriguez has her starring role in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Fast X releasing later this year.
Would you have wanted to see Michelle Rodriguez in Avatar 2? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!