James Cameron is already proving haters wrong about Avatar: The Way of Water, as the movie's trailer views confirm that there is plenty of excitement for the long-awaited sequel. It's been nearly 13 years since Cameron released the original Avatar movie in theaters, where it pushed the boundaries of visual effects, highlighted 3D technology, and became the highest-grossing movie of all time. There has been an exhaustive wait for Avatar: The Way of Water as the director waited for technology to evolve and make his vision a reality. During that time, though, the discourse around the Avatar franchise has been somewhat surprising.

Despite Avatar's place at the top of the all-time box office standings, there has been a growing belief over the years that no one cares about the movie. The criticisms over James Cameron rehashing known stories for his original sci-fi film rose as people began enjoying pointing out the flaws of Avatar. Cameron's movie became a proverbial punching bag online for the lack of cultural imprint it left, often being compared to Marvel, DC, or Star Wars in terms of franchises that moviegoers were much more interested in. All of this led to a growing idea that Avatar 2 could be a big disappointment and that no one was excited about it or any of James Cameron's other sequels. For all of the hate that the sequel has received, the release of the first Avatar: The Way of Water trailer proved just how much excitement there is in the franchise. Recent reports revealed that Avatar 2's trailer views beat all of Disney's Star Wars movies and several other high-profile blockbusters in the first 24 hours after release. Although the 148.6 million trailer views are well below the most recent record-setting trailer, Spider-Man: No Way Home's 355 million views, the fact that the Avatar sequel trailer "no one cares about" has beaten every Star Wars trailer is an impressive feat. It proves there is great interest in seeing what James Cameron has done, regardless of what his and the franchise's haters say.

RELATED: 

Avatar: The Way of Water hate is that the doubters are likely only contributing to the film's eventual success. The Avatar 2 trailer views show that there is plenty of general excitement to see the latest film from one of cinema's greatest blockbuster directors. These fans around the world who don't know about the internet's turn against Avatar will surely turn out in droves once the sequel releases in theaters in December 2022. However, even the James Cameron haters likely won't be able to stay away. Whether it is to give the film a genuine shot to impress them or to hate-watch Avatar 2 to share their criticisms online, which presumably happened on some level with the trailer, they will still play a role in the movie succeeding in theaters. Due to the excitement that the trailer has generated, there will be plenty of eyes on Avatar 2's box office to see how well this translates. All of the recent Star Wars movies surpassed $1 billion worldwide, so Avatar: The Way of Water should surpass that benchmark if the trailer views success carries over. Even with the clear interest, it seems unlikely that the sequel will beat Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie ever. The truth is that it likely will fall well short of the original's box office, but even a 50 percent drop could still give Avatar 2 a near top 10 all-time finish. However, if interest continues to grow as Avatar: The Way of Water's release nears, and more trailers are released, then James Cameron haters could find themselves in a surprising position of seeing just how popular the franchise and the original film really are.