‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Is Here and the Tattooed ‘Avatar Man’ Is Over the Moon

The first sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar was supposed to hit theaters in 2014. Then it got pushed to 2015, then 2016, and 2017. Eventually, it was slated for release in December 2021 — but COVID-19 pushed it another year. At long last, the film debuts this week.

“Yes, waiting for the second was way overdue,” Raymond Knowles tells Rolling Stone in a Facebook message. “Many times over the years I was thinking it will never get finished and out.”

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You might say that Knowles, a 54-year-old carpenter in Edmonton, Alberta, is more invested than the average fan in seeing Cameron complete the Avatar saga — four additional movies in all. That’s because over the past decade-plus, he’s kept the faith by covering his entire body in Avatar tattoos, making it a shrine to Neytiri, the warrior-princess of the blue Na’vi people portrayed by actress Zoe Saldaña.

He’s about 95 percent inked at this point, he says. Last fall, he had his sleeves completed.

“People think I’m obsessed,” Knowles says. “So I have the odd decal on my truck and one tattoo, that’s the joke I use.” The Chevy truck he refers to is no less subtle a tribute to Avatar than his skin, fully wrapped in lush blues and purple, with “NEYTIRI” vanity plates and Papyrus-font advertisements for his carpentry business called — what else? — “Mr. Avatar.” According to his customers in Edmonton, Knowles is a nice, knowledgeable guy who does great work, and he’ll happily pose for a photo or discuss his cinematic passion with anyone interested. Spotting his ride around town is undoubtedly good luck.

What was it about the original Avatar that Knowles found so electrifying? The short answer is: all of it. “First off I’m a huge James Cameron fan,” he wrote on Reddit three years ago. “To me Avatar was his best movie ever. I just loved everything about it.” He admires the “beautiful graphic scenery” and “the many similarities to our own planet” reflected in the alien world of Pandora.

“Of course the beautiful Neytiri,” he added in his post, “which inspired me to do all that I have done and will to continue to do. My truck, my body and tons [of] collectibles. To this day I just can’t put my finger on just one thing.”

With the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water upon us, Knowles says that people “keep requesting to see it with me.” He currently has tickets for three showings on consecutive nights — but the first showing, on Friday, is a special occasion with his daughter Nancy, who is now 26 and was just 13 when Avatar changed Knowles’ life. While she was sometimes “weirded out” by his love for the film in her teen years, she’s also been supportive, with the pair traveling together to fan conferences and once touring Cameron’s Lightstorm studio. Together they’ve met several Avatar actors and producer Jon Landau.

Of course, the father and daughter will be watching the sequel as Cameron intended: in 3D, on the biggest screen around. “I will always watch Avatar in IMAX theaters,” Knowles explains. “Seen the first one 11 times when it first came out in 2009, and five times the second time it was around.” Even revisiting it in the comfort of his own home, though, reminds him “why I fell in love with this awesome beautiful movie.”

While Knowles won’t hesitate to share YouTube videos about how Avatar: The Way of Water “will change movies forever,” he’s careful not to set expectations too high. “People ask me if I’m excited for the new one,” Knowles says. He admits that his answer is “yes and no.”

“It was the first one that I fell in love with, like many other people,” he says. “I don’t know how Mr. Cameron will top it with the next one and the following ones. I have seen every trailer that has come out, and yes, they look awesome — goosebumps just like with the first one.”

That he’s become something of an internet celebrity and local legend during the wait for a followup was hardly intentional, he says. It started with a couple of tattoos and snowballed from there. While it might have prompted odd glances or remarks in the early days, people have come to accept that he wants to celebrate a story he finds meaningful (and knows is just a movie).

“Stuff like that never bothers me anyways,” he once wrote. “Having lots of ink doesn’t change who someone is.”

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