Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, the film stars Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet.

This first teaser for Avatar: The Way of Water hit the web Monday after first debuting at CinemaCon and then ahead of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” — but if you still haven’t seen it, you’re in for a treat.

This sequel to Avatar, the 2009 blockbuster directed by James Cameron, is set more than a decade after the events of the first film. It begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive and the tragedies they endure.

“I know one thing: wherever we go, this family is our fortress,” Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully says at the end of the trailer.

It’s a teaser, so you can’t expect a lot of illumination on the plot, but we do get to see a lot of the glorious world that is Pandora, and more than a small glimpse of its aquatic life. There is also the matter of Sully’s family, which appears to include one that looks like a human/Na’vi hybrid.

Avatar: The Way of Water is the first of four sequels to be released by 20th Century Studios over the next several years. Cameron shot this sequel and the next one back to back to save on production costs, not to mention the difficulty of getting everyone’s schedules to align. Fandom has been collectively wondering exactly what the appetite will be for four Avatar films after a a dozen-year delay since the first one, and to be honest, the computer graphics in this trailer are easily rivaled by some of the newest Playstation 5 games. Have they waited too long?

None the less, the first Avatar film broke new ground in virtual filmmaking technology, and was nominated for nine Oscars, winning three. It is also the highest grossing movie of all time at $2.84B.

Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theaters Dec. 16, and 20th Century Studios is re-releasing the original Avatar on Sept. 23.

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