Despite the fact that the first installment of Avatar was released in 2009, filmmaker James Cameron had been working on the film for years, waiting for breakthrough technology to be found that would give him the tools to create the world of Pandora. A few years in which the Canadian began to create the image of the Na’vi, the main blue characters, thanks to a team made up of professionals such as Joseph C. Pepe, who was commissioned to create the first image of the Na’vi, which could have been very different from the one we know today.

The visual artist shared a more menacing and crude initial version of what the inhabitants of Polyphemus’ moon might have beenthe protagonists of Avatarand also tells the story of the first sketches.

Pepe, who worked on the first film as part of the special effects team and was promoted to lead character designer on the secondexplained how it was his first meeting with James Cameron in 2004, along with other members of the Stan Winston Studio at the time. A visit to Lightstorm Entertainment in Santa Monica, California (USA), to read the script for Avatar and receive information and graphic material.

“That was our introduction to start a two-week “acid test”, for our version of the Na’vi characters in Project 880the temporary name of Avatar. They gave us 14 days to show Cameron “something new, to further develop the characters and give them new life.” At the same time, Cameron had said the film would be photorealistic when finished and I felt extreme pressure to illustrate something that would impress him,” Pepe shares on his Instagram account.

“Cameron expressed no emotion upon examination, only recognizing the Sea Slug bioluminescence I wore on my forehead. Cameron said: ‘It’s a pelagic nudibranch, Phylliroe bucephala. My mouth dropped open in utter amazement that he not only recognized the type of animal bioluminescence he used, but also knew its scientific name.“concludes the artist, who also praises Cameron’s figure as a science and engineering enthusiast.

Pepe also shared these months the sketches made for the creation of Walker and Lo’ak in Avatar: the sense of water, which he would perfect with the use of special effects, demonstrating his great talent and ensuring a great future with the appearance of new characters in the next three confirmed installments of Avatar.

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