Iron Man Gets a Na’vi Hug — and Endgame Reclaims Hollywood’s Box Office Throne

Darlings, settle in — the all-time box office throne has changed hands yet again, and this time, the dethroned king has sent the most delicious congratulatory gift imaginable.

Thanks to its Encore re-release, Avengers: Endgame has swaggered back to the summit of the all-time chart, now sitting pretty at $2.955 billion. Yes, the Marvel epic is once again the biggest movie the world has ever seen — and we know it is official because James Cameron — Jim, as his handle insists — has raised a glass to the film that toppled his own 2009 colossus, Avatar.

And what a toast it was. Across his channels this week, Cameron unveiled celebratory artwork: Tony Stark, wrapped in a full embrace by the Na’vi, beneath the words “You are one of the people.” Now, anyone who has sat through Avatar knows the Na’vi do not exactly roll out the blue carpet for outsiders — so this framing is quite the choice, equal parts warm hug and raised eyebrow. Classic Cameron: gracious on the surface, a playful blade underneath.

There is poetry in the ritual, too. The titans of the all-time list have long exchanged artworks whenever the crown moves house — and just recently, Spider-Man: Brand New Day joined that gilded club. For Endgame and Avatar, this moment closes a circle: they went head-to-head in 2019, clashed again in 2021, and now, in this Encore season, Endgame has repaid every old favour with generous interest.

Cameron’s own note was pure elder statesman. The comment sections beneath his posts, naturally, have become a battlefield where devoted fans draw lines between the two epics — but the man himself professes only gladness that audiences are filling seats again, and delight that the Encore furthered that grand cause. Sweet words, certainly. But a showman who has reclaimed this very throne before knows precisely how a re-release works, and one suspects Avatar’s own encore is merely resting between acts.

The gossip in me cannot resist one detail: who painted this piece? When io9 reached out to Disney, the artist’s identity remained under wraps. Past congratulatory canvases arrived proudly signed by their creators — though recent chapters of this tug-of-war have not always followed suit. An unsigned masterpiece between two empires? Friends, that mystery deserves a sequel of its own.

And what comes next? Avatar turns twenty in a few short years, and a third theatrical return is surely already being whispered about in boardrooms. Before then, all bets are off: Brand New Day could keep climbing after its own re-release, or Avengers: Doomsday could descend and shock the world with dethroning numbers. One certainty remains — every Encore must end eventually. The only question is who is standing when the curtain falls.

Forgive an old theatre writer her knowing smile. In Assam, our travelling troupes have proven for generations that a beloved story never truly leaves the stage — it merely waits for the right season to return, take its bow, and remind everyone why it reigned. Hollywood, it seems, has finally learned our oldest lesson.

The crown changes hands. Cinema stays eternal.

— From the desk of Rupaliparda