There’s been quite a lot of James Cameron within the headlines these days, all attributable to the truth that perhaps essentially the most James Cameron film ever is about to hit theaters. Avatar: The Way of Water emphasizes so many issues the filmmaker is thought for, together with cutting-edge particular results, high-stakes motion, the concept that a sequel can surpass an authentic, and powerful feminine characters.

Cameron’s previous sequels particularly have helped outline what a girl motion hero appears to be like and acts like: assume Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Ellen Ripley in Aliens. Both of these girls kick ass, and each of these girls occur to be moms. These themes are, unsurprisingly, a key a part of Avatar: The Way of Water, one thing Cameron mentioned with fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez—his collaborator on Alita: Battle Angel—in a new Variety interview.

“I was really taken by the fact that [Zoe Saldaña’s character] Neytiri hunts while she’s pregnant,” Rodriguez mentioned, earlier than dropping what’s perhaps a small spoiler by including, “And then you have one of the characters go into battle pregnant,” and asking Cameron why that was a alternative he wished to make.

“Everybody’s always talking about female empowerment,” Cameron replied. “But what is such a big part of a woman’s life that we, as men, don’t experience? And I thought, ‘Well, if you’re really going to go all the way down the rabbit hole of female empowerment, let’s have a female warrior who’s six months pregnant in battle.’ It doesn’t happen in our society—probably hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. But I guarantee you, back in the day, women had to fight for survival and protect their children, and it didn’t matter if they were pregnant. And pregnant women are more capable of being a lot more athletic than we, as a culture, acknowledge. I thought, ‘Let’s take the real boundaries off.’ To me, it was the last bastion that you don’t see.”

Ending his reply, Cameron—a self-proclaimed fan of Marvel and DC films—couldn’t resist mentioning that “Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel — all these other amazing women come up, but they’re not moms and they’re not pregnant while they’re fighting evil.”

Avatar: The Way of Water arrives December 16.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to anticipate the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and all the things you should find out about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.