I'm Hoping That The Avatar 3 Trailer Just Drops Randomly. It Could Drop When We Least Expect It, And

Imagine this:

Spider escapes from Quaritch only to end up lost and stumbling into the hands of an Ash Na'vi scout who immediately plucks up this strange little human and brings him back home to present to Varang. Without hesitation, Varang lifts him up to eye level, staring deep into his soul. After a long, silent moment, she deems him satisfactory and declares, with quiet finality, that he will stay by her side as her ward.

It's craaaazy how opinions on Spider vary so much depending on what site you're on

ADDING MORE TO THIS

Norm even gives Spider parents who aren't really his parents. He successfully crafts a plausible origin story for Julian by pinning his lineage on a dead man with the right looks and no one to contradict it.

The two even have the same shade of blonde hair!

There had always been whispers and rumors passed around in the mess halls that one of the scientists had gotten a pretty techie pregnant, a fun little tryst gone wrong. The rumor had never been confirmed. No proof, no details, just the kind of idle gossip people clung to when the days stretched for too long and boredom struck.

That scientist was said to be Phillip Shaw. Norm remembered him. Popular, golden-haired, silver-tongued, a total manwhore who slept around a lot, brilliant in the lab, but reckless on the field, and drove Grace crazy with his inability to take the dangers seriously because he thought he was God's gift to Pandora. He’d gotten mauled by a thanator while collecting spore samples. Phillip's body was never recovered, just his shredded pack splattered with blood and a few scraps of torn equipment.

Perfect.

All evidence of Paz Socorro is scrubbed. In her place: a woman who'd been a low-level techie, a casualty of the war. The perfect dead mother for a story about a little orphaned child. Tragic. Sad. Simple.

Julian Shaw. Son of Phillip Shaw and Amelia Perkins. Both dead. Orphaned. Adopted by his “uncle” Norm out of loyalty to an old colleague and acquaintance.

It was neat. Tragic. Believable. And no one would question it.

Norm leaned back, hands trembling slightly. Not from fear — from the weight of what he’d just done.

He was erasing the truth.

No, no, no...he was protecting a child from it.

“You're not the son of a demon. You're not a mistake,” he whispered, glancing toward the sleeping bundle across the room. “You're Julian Shaw now. That’s who you are.”

And that was who he would be… until the moons fell, or Eywa herself decided otherwise.

My thoughts were inspired by @detective-twinkachu's au where Norm and Max hide Spider's lineage.

I love the idea of an AU where Norm finds baby Spider and immediately realizes this child will never know peace if anyone learns who his real father is. So, like Eddard Stark, he makes a painful decision: He erases every trace of Quaritch’s connection to the boy and keeps it secret. He gives the child a new name (seriously, Miles? Way to make it obvious, Paz), forges documents, and creates a solid cover story in case anyone asks questions. He can’t bring himself to tell anyone, not even his closest friends, the truth. Quaritch has made too many enemies and caused too much destruction for anyone to overlook the boy’s lineage. There's already been enough tragedy. And this child, little Julian, is the first human ever born on Pandora.

Norm even steals the only photo of Paz and hides it away where no one will ever find it. He hates lying. Hates secrets. But Hell’s Gate is built on them, and children should never have to suffer for their parents’ mistakes. So he decides: he’ll raise Julian as his nephew. He’ll raise him to be kind, brave, and good. Maybe, just maybe, when Julian turns nineteen, he’ll sit him down and explain everything. Or maybe he won’t. Maybe Julian should never know. Norm will carry this secret to his grave… unless Eywa herself decides to produce a blowhorn and inform the entire planet. No. He'll hold this secret.

On the desk beside Julian's forged documents was a faded photo of Paz Socorro. Pregnant. Glowing. Laughing. Holding her growing belly as she smiled for the camera. Norm’s throat closed up. Guilt and anger were warring in his chest like a storm. What would Trudy say about all this?

“I’m sorry, Socorro,” he whispered. “You were… a good mother. You didn’t deserve to fall in love with a monster, you didn't deserve to die for his craziness, you didn't deserve any of this. But your baby boy? He deserves better. He deserves everything. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

He picked up the photo, stared at it, then opened up his desk drawer and hid it beneath layers of unimportant documents. Hidden in plain sight until he could find a tiny box and bury the picture so deep that maybe Eywa herself will forget about it. This was for the best.

Then, he burned everything else.

What if Spider was Spider-Man?

Just got done watching Spider-verse and now I can't help but think about Spider as the Pandoran version of Spider-Man.

-) While practicing his archery a mile away from Hell's Gate, Spider is bitten by a strange arachnid creature unlike anything catalogued on Pandora: Eight eyes, a small bioluminescent body, and too many limbs that skitter up his arm too fast for him to bat away with his bow.

-) The pain on his upper arm is searing, cold venom is flooding his system, and his body is shaking. Spider knows he should tell Jake and get himself checked out, but Jake is spending time with his family, and Spider doesn't want to bother him. Instead, Spider stumbles back to Hell's Gate alone, locks his bedroom door, and sleeps for days, plagued by fevered dreams of glowing silk threads covering his entire body in a cocoon and the feeling of being watched by all eight eyes.

-) Eywa does not speak, but he feels her. The bite was no freak accident. It was an acknowledgement. A transformation.

-) The mutation amplifies his strength, speed, and reflexes to rival young Na’vi. He can leap through the trees with uncanny grace, run silently across branches, and wrestle his siblings with ease.

-) Spider hits a sudden, aggressive growth spurt. His bones stretch, he shoots up like a weed, and his posture shifts. He grows into a broad-shouldered, coiled force of nature in just a few days. Norm jokingly asks, "Did Jake feed you a special protein powder?" But Spider just shrugs, quietly avoiding the question with lowered eyes.

-) Against RDA soldiers, Spider is terrifying. He moves faster than their sensors can track, weaving traps of glowing silk webbing that strangle, immobilize, or slice. He’s even developed kill zones in different parts of the vast forest, leading enemies there like a spider luring prey into its web.

-) Spider's methods of killing are precise. He drops from a tree in total silence, snaps necks with his super strength, and webs the body into the trees as a warning. In moments of desperation, he uses a special venom-infused bite passed down from the spider that changed him. It paralyzes instantly and causes intense hallucinations. Some unfortunate survivors go mad from the encounter.

-) Spider takes no pleasure in killing, nor does he look forward to it, but when he kills, it is swift, silent, and deliberate. Spider kills because he knows that every RDA life he spares will cost dozens of innocent Na’vi or creatures. To show mercy is to be complicit because these people will never stop.

-) Even Lo’ak gives Spider a curious once-over and mutters, "You been lifting boulders or something, bro?"

-) Spider wants so badly to tell everyone about his abilities, but he fears that Neytiri will misunderstand and see him as a threat. No one trusts him as far as they can throw him, and as far as Spider is concerned, he's on his own.

-) When Spider connects his webbing to a living thing: beast, plant, even another person, he feels a tug in his chest, a strange warmth in his mind. It’s not language, but sensation. A feeling. Spider’s webbing can read an enemy's next move, like a spider sensing a fly tremble in its web. He wraps it around their weapons, and in that fleeting connection, he feels intention. He dodges before they shoot. He moves before they do.

-) Spider can breathe the air, but keeps his mask on to avoid suspicion.

-) His "spidey suit" is made from his webbing, and he even wears a handmade mask to hide his identity. At first, the mask was entirely blank until Spider decided to draw eight eyes on it, giving him a more intimidating look.

-) The cat is out of the bag when Spider uses his webbing to "heal" Netyam's injury, but that's a story for another day,

I’ve been watching Venom and got the idea of a symbiote landing on Pandora, instantly bonding with Spider since humans make easy hosts. However, instead of immediately going on a killing spree, the symbiote becomes captivated by the beauty of Pandora and declares Spider its tour guide. Spider, feeling lonely, confused, and terrified, agrees. What begins as a horror story soon transforms into a slow-paced, heartfelt adventure—Spider guiding this parasite through the alien planet. At the same time, the symbiote, thrilled by its new surroundings, keeps Spider safe. The pair occasionally takes out RDA soldiers because Spider refuses to harm any Na'vi, and the symbiote, disapproving of the soldiers hurting Pandora, takes great pleasure in ripping off their heads.

"Those metal-clad parasites who defile everything they touch with their sharp scents. They hate this pretty planet. I will eat them."

Spider’s chest tightened. He could hear it—the hunger beneath the symbiote’s words. A cold, calculating fury. "I won’t let you hurt the Na'vi," he said through gritted teeth, his voice steadier than he felt.

"I do not care for the blue ones. They do not harm this world like the others." The symbiote’s tone softened, almost indulgent. "You, little one, are the bridge between this world and mine."

Spider blinked, confused. "Wait… what?"

"You will be my tour guide," it purred, its voice filling his head with an odd sense of calm. "You are the one who will show me the beauty, wonders, and life of this planet and teach me about this Eywa."

Spider’s mind spun. "Tour guide?" He could barely keep up. "What are you talking about?"

"You were born here on this planet. Now, you are my guide."

Is there a Discord for fans of Spider from James Cameron's Avatar?

The four of them 🤩

Photo from the new Empire Magazine special

💙🩵💙🩵💙

The best quartet

Imagine Spider having the gift to commune with the spirits of the dead, Na'vi, and humans. Spirits are everywhere in the forest (more appeared after the great battle) — watching him practice his archery, guiding him back to Hell's Gate in the dark, and whispering stories to him. Some are peaceful and content, while others are restless, especially those who died violently or don't know they're even dead.

Naturally, Spider keeps this to himself because he's afraid of being further ostracized. Instead, he decides to see this gift as a good thing because at least he has friends to talk to. He doesn't care if Lo'ak thinks he's weird for talking to himself or staring off into space. Spider sees fallen Na’vi warriors from the past, human researchers and soldiers who died on Pandora, and even little children who perished when the Tree of Souls was destroyed. They sometimes speak to him, asking for his company or to listen to their stories.

Maybe it's not healthy to spend hours alone with just the dead for company, maybe it's not normal that he prefers sleeping outside in the company of spirits then with the living back at Hell's Gate, and maybe he made a mistake venturing off alone to live in isolation because he's found more belonging with the dead then with the living.

Was watching a reaction video to the Predator Badlands trailer, and one of the people reacting said something along the lines of, ‘I don’t care about predator culture, I don’t want to learn a single thing about them. I just want them to be mysterious alien hunters.’

Okay, but isn’t this way of thinking precisely what has been suffocating the franchise for the last decade? We never get anything new or anything interesting because film makers keep sticking to the same old formula in order to keep the predator species ‘mysterious’. Well, I hate to break it to you folks, but an alien species that has appeared in seven films has ceased to be mysterious a long time ago.