There has been rampant speculation about Vin Diesel joining the Avatar franchise, but it appears that none of it was true. Speaking to Empire magazine for its March 2023 issue, producer Jon Landau clarified that the 55-year-old Fast & Furious star isn’t set to appear in any future Avatar films despite older events that suggested otherwise, such as his appearance on set with director James Cameron in 2019. That was also the year when Diesel flat out told Entertainment Weekly that he was “doing Avatar,” encouraged by reasons that include being able to work with Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), who the actor described as family.
From an Empire article:
Naturally, use of the f-word (‘family’, not the other one) tends to attract the attention of one Vin Diesel – who, back in 2019, posted a video on his Instagram with Cameron himself from the Avatar set, strongly suggesting that he’d bagged a role in the director’s multiple sequels.
“Vin was a fan,” producer Jon Landau confirms when speaking with Empire. “He came in, visited the set one day to see what we were doing and people took that out of context.” It’s arguable that Diesel fanned the flames when it came to rumours he’d be going big and blue in the near future (“There is one person in Hollywood I’ve always wanted to work with and learn from, and so, all things come, I guess, to those that wait,” the actor rumbled in his Instagram vid) – but for now, Diesel is sticking to the Fast lane rather than hopping a flight to Pandora.
Landau goes on to tease the next Avatar movies, all of which will seemingly continue the theme of family that Cameron instilled into his successful sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. As for Diesel, fans of the actor will be able to see him back in the role of Dominic Toretto in Fast X, a tenth installment of the action franchise that was directed by The Incredible Hulk’s Louis Leterrier.