Photo-Illustration: Photos: Everett Collection, Getty Images; Illustration: Vulture
There’s no ill will at the top of the box office. After Avengers: Endgame once again surpassed Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time, James Cameron offered a hearty soleia to Disney, Marvel, and probably the Russo Brothers. On social media, he posted an illustration of Iron Man being warmly greeted by the Na’vi. “You are one of the people,” they say to Tony Stark. That’s nice. And his helmet allows him to breathe the toxic air of Pandora, which is even nicer. Tony appears to be around the same height as the Na’vi, which indicates he’s probably hovering a few feet off the ground in order to make eye contact with a species that averages between 9 and 10 feet tall.
Avengers: Endgame: Encore added one more colon and 2.9 billion more dollars to the film’s already impressive records. It’s not the first time Cameron has given congrats to Marvel for box office achievements. When Endgame first passed Avatar in 2019, the director wrote “Oel ngati kameie. I see you Marvel. Congratulations to Avengers: Endgame on becoming the new box-office king.” That time, the accompanying image was of Iron Man swarmed by those jellyfish guys that float in Pandora’s air. The 2021 rerelease of Avatar put that film back on top, and Marvel sent a similar congrats to Cameron. If Avengers: Doomsday beats both films, do you think Marvel will release an in-character gloatfest from Doctor Doom? Perhaps crushing Iron Man and Jake Sully under his big metal boot? Could be funny.
