Renowned filmmaker James Cameron has acknowledged a fan theory regarding a cleverly hidden Titanic Easter egg in his Avatar movies.
The third movie in the popular action saga, titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, is set to be released globally tomorrow (December 19). This installment is expected to lead Jake Sully and his family into a more intense storyline as they encounter a menacing tribe on Pandora after the events of The Way of Water.
Fire and Ash is expected to showcase groundbreaking cinematic techniques from Cameron, featuring impressive visual storytelling throughout the 195-minute, $400 million production.
Fans of the Avatar series can anticipate numerous hidden references to Cameron’s other works, often so discreet that they’re only noticed upon multiple viewings. One such reference, a nod to Titanic, was recently confirmed by Cameron himself.
Apart from the ship’s demise, one of the most memorable scenes in Cameron’s 1997 hit Titanic is when Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) cling to a wooden board in the cold Atlantic waters.
As Jack sacrifices his chance of survival for Rose, many have debated whether both could have fit on the driftwood.
This iconic scene is echoed in 2022’s The Way of Water, where Jake, Neytiri, and their children escape a sinking ship, finding themselves on a floating object.
During a press event after the premiere of Fire and Ash, Cameron confirmed this as an intentional Easter egg.
When questioned about it, he remarked, “I can answer this question generally, I’ve only ever had about five good ideas in my life, I just keep repackaging them endlessly.”
Cameron’s knack for impactful storytelling is a key reason audiences continue to find ‘Easter eggs’ in his films—he isn’t shy about revisiting successful ideas.
An additional Titanic nod in The Way of Water is the line ‘I see you’, a phrase in Na’vi as ‘Oel ngati kameie’, which strengthens familial bonds in the narrative.
In the second movie, this greeting gains emotional weight, especially when Jake uses it to convey pride and acceptance to his son, Lo’ak.
This line dates back to Titanic, where Jack is told: “You have a gift Jack, you do. You see people.”
Jack also tells Rose: “I see you” during a significant moment in the acclaimed film.
The phrase resonates with Cameron, who explained to Entertainment Tonight in 2023: “I literally was just sitting there coming up with, ‘What would one tribal person say to another tribal person from a different group?’ ‘I see you’ was the most obvious thing.”
“Like, literally just go to the most basic semiotics of it. And then I started layering in all these other meanings, and I went back and saw I’d already done that.”