The word “likely”, in bold type in the text (paragraph 2) is 

     The latest Avatar 3 updates have confirmed that Captain Mick Scoresby (Brendan Cowell) will return for Avatar 3. This could spell either good news or bad for the next Avatar instalment, as his storyline was similar to Quaritch’s in that it was presumed he bit the dust, only to come back for another sequel. In addition, Zoe Saldana recently gave a filming update while speaking to Entertainment Tonight. While director James Cameron had stated that filming is nearly done for Avatar 3 back in 2020, Saldana reported to ET that the crew was going back to film for the summer, and that the process was “70% done there”.

      That being said, conflicting Avatar 3 updates come from a Q&A session with producer John Landau, who said that Avatar 3 and the first act of Avatar 4 were filmed simultaneously with Avatar 2. Either way, the consensus is the sequel is nearly done with the filming process. In the same Q&A, Landau revealed that Avatar 3 will introduce two new Na’vi cultures. "But we're going to meet at least two new clans in the next movie, culturally, and go on and on as we continue that," Landau said. Likely one of these new cultures will be the fire Na’vi, of which Oona Chaplin's Varang will be a part of.

       In addition, other Avatar 3 updates have confirmed two major character returns. The first is that of Avatar: The Way of Water's breakout character Payakan, the gentle and intelligent Tulkun. In an interview with The Wrap, Landau confirmed that Payakan would be back for Avatar 3, saying, "I always viewed Payakan a little bit like Lassie. And I would say this is a story like a boy and his dog, and they’re both outcasts, and they need each other." In the same interview, Landau also stated that the Avatar secondary villain Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), who was absent for the sequel, would come back in a major way for Avatar 3.