Don’t count on seeing Michelle Rodriguez in Avatar 3. Back in 2009, Rodriguez was featured as part of the cast of James Cameron’s original Avatar movie, playing the role of combat pilot Trudy Chacon. The character goes down in a blaze of glory, sacrificing herself so the Na’vi can retain control of Pandora. Trudy did not return in Avatar: The Way of Water, but the sequel did bring back other dead characters from the first movie, leaving the door open for Rodriguez to potentially return in Avatar 3 or beyond.
Not so fast, Rodriguez says. Per Vanity Fair, the Fast & Furious franchise star has now addressed her future in the Avatar movie series. While she has said goodbye to Avatar long ago, Rodriguez reveals that Cameron actually approached her with the idea of bringing Trudy back in an upcoming Avatar movie. However, it appears that this won’t be happening, as Rodriguez doesn’t want to tarnish the character’s legacy following her heroic ending. As Rodriguez puts it:
“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.’”
With that said, Rodriguez admits that part of her refusal to come back for Avatar 3 is also because she keeps playing characters in other movies that came back after they were thought to be dead, and it would just be “overkill” at this point to do it once again. Rodriguez explains:
“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! … I don’t understand, it’s so weird. 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?’”
James Cameron Regrets Killing Off Michelle Rodriguez’s Avatar Character
Cameron has also recently said he made a big mistake by killing Trudy off in Avatar. Per Showbiz CheatSheet, Cameron recently spoke about how much he enjoyed working with Rodriguez on the original film, noting how everyone who came out of that shoot had an “abiding affection for who she is as a person.” He went on to note how he regrets killing off her character in Avatar, feeling she showcases the same “integrity” as the woman who played her.
“The character of Trudy has this amazing integrity, and that’s who Michelle is. I mean, I’m kind of kicking myself today that I killed her off.”
Don’t bet on Rodriguez appearing in Avatar 3, but as for where you can see the actress, she’ll soon be on the big screen for Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. The film is hitting theaters on March 31, 2023.
