Avatar Fans Think They've Already Spotted Spoilers For Spider's Future

This article contains spoilers for "Avatar: The Way of Water."

"Avatar: The Way of Water" has finally hit screens, and loyal fans are generally happy with the way things turned out for their favorite Na'vi characters. While the movie had a slightly smaller box office debut than expected, it's still the subject of much praise, both critical and casual, for its stunning visuals and moving, world-expanding story. 

The film follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Ney'tiri (Zoe Saldaña), who have forged a life for themselves and their five children in the forests of Pandora. However, when humans descend upon Pandora again — with reinforcements this time — Sully must pack up his family and integrate into a new seaside tribe in order to protect his fellow Omatikaya clan members. As he meets the power players in his new home of Awa'atlu, his kids embark on their own adventures, setting up a grand finale showdown with the newly-Avatar'd Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). 

But one of Sully's children in particular — Spider (Jack Champion) — has drawn attention for not only his role in "The Way of Water" but for his potential role in the franchise's future. In a new promotional photo, Spider appears to have a fascinating tattoo that raises all sorts of questions.

Spider is a standout character in "Avatar: The Way of Water," in no small part because he's one of the few humans in a movie filled with Na'vi and Na'vi-human hybrids. Essentially feral, the dreadlocked and loinclothed Spider moves and acts like he's Na'vi. He seems right at home in Jake Sully's family, despite not having an avatar of his own; thus, it's not surprising that Sully and his wife Ney'tiri adopted him.

But when the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch, a.k.a. Spider's biological father, captures Spider and uses him to track down Sully, the Colonel begins to bond with Spider, leading the Tarzan-like boy to make a surprise move in the film's finale. Considering these events, and considering Spider's new apparent loyalty to his once-human father, it's perhaps remarkable that Spider recently appeared in promotional photos with tattoos characteristic of the Na'vi Metkayina clan, whom Spider barely spent time with in "The Way of Water."

In a recently released promotional photo, Jake Champion appears to have a new tattoo on his left arm that doesn't appear to be in the Omatikaya — or forest clan — style. Reddit users quickly jumped on the development and speculated as to whether the photo could be from unreleased "Avatar: The Way of Water" footage, or if it's, in, fact from "Avatar 3." After all, the third film in the franchise is already slated for a 2024 release (via The Wrap).

As Redditor u/soaring_kite pointed out, the tattoo could possibly indicate that Spider will soon integrate into the Metkayina reef clan, just as Jake Sully's other children did. In this case, Spider would have to ask the Metkayina clan to make the stripes that are already on his body into permanent marks. "Much like Jake permanently leaving his human body behind in the first film, it could be a way of denouncing Spider's human heritage," they added in another post. This, of course, would make sense, as Spider decided at the end of "Avatar: The Way of Water" to return to his Na'vi friends and family, rather than stay with his father.

Yet another Redditor shared a promotional photo of Spider in an avatar pod, suggesting that the character might soon acquire an avatar of his own. This raised further questions as to whether Spider might eventually join his family as an avatar in a larger battle against his biological father and the other human invaders. In any case, Spider is surely going to play a major role in the next film, whether or not that mysterious new tattoo has anything to do with it.