Avatar: The Way Of Water's Cast Used Underwater Jetpacks To Swim Faster During Filming

In addition to their arm strakes, the Metkayina also possess a paddle-like tail which seems to serve an even more important purpose for their survival. In order to make it look seamless when they put the digital makeup on the actors later, Cameron tasked lead character designer Joseph Pepe with finding a solution. If the groundbreaking underwater tech wasn't cool enough already, they offered Metkayina performers jetpacks to mimic a perfect underwater rhythm (via "The Art of Avatar: The Way of the Water") .

"We gave them a switch to hold in their hands so they could kick and then kick the jet pack and slide and wiggle their hips like they had a tail. We called it the 'crocodile swim' because the crocodile pulls its butt back as its tail moves. The actors had to act as if they had tails. There was a whole aesthetic around the tail , where we were wondering how best to integrate their functionality into costumes and so on."< /p>

With Cameron you can really play with the coolest toys. Along with having a scary underwater jetpack on their back, it also helps the audience distinguish how the Metkayina swim compared to other clans. The Sullys are, as Chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) says, babies compared to them, so they must use their bodies to become one with the water if they are to properly assimilate. The new clan fits so organically into their imaginatively designed reef home, while maintaining the towering stature of the other Na'vi we've seen so far.

"Avatar: Way of the Water" is now playing in theaters everywhere.