Avatar 2: How Sigourney Weaver Is Returning (Despite Her Death)

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One of the biggest mysteries surrounding James Cameron’s Avatar 2was just how Sigourney Weaver could return in the sequel. Dr. Grace Augustine, the highly memorable Sigourney Weaver Avatar character in the original, died at the hands of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Avatar's villain. But now Weaver is back for Avatar 2, and her character is very different.

In the first Avatar movie, Dr. Grace Augustine was the head of the Avatar program, tasked with setting up English schools for would-be Na’vi multilinguists. As one of the leads of the Avatar program, Weaver’s character Dr. Grace was highly sympathetic towards the Na’vi, believing that destroying their ecosystem would do more harm than good. This stance, naturally, led to several clashes with Colonel Quaritch's militarization efforts.

Related: Avatar 2's Villain Arc Is Already Avoiding Star Wars' Palpatine Problem

Despite dying a heroic death in the first film, the Sigourney Weaver Avatar character is poised to make an indirect return in the James Cameron sequel, Avatar 2, in which Weaver will now be playing Jake and Neytiri's adopted daughter, Kiri. This isn't only unusual because Weaver will be playing a teenage girl; it also calls into question whether Dr. Grace has been reincarnated – and, if so, how and why. Here's how Sigourney Weaver's Avatar 2 return could have been made possible and what it might mean.

In Avatar, Jake Sully brought Dr. Augustine to the Na’vi’s sacred Tree of Souls to help transfer the character from her human body to her Avatar one. Unfortunately, she passed away before the transfer could be completed, but this doesn't necessarily mean her consciousness was lost altogether. Details regarding The Tree of Souls are vague, but the