Something which appears to be our first look at the alien character designs in James Cameron’s new movie Avatar, has popped up online. The silhouette to your right comes courtesy of Marketsaw, where they claim that’s the outline of one of the Na’vi alien natives from the movie. It came from a t-shirt, given to Avatar crew members by star Sam Worthington. They have another look at the logo on the shirt over there.

It’s not much to go on, but I like what I’m seeing here. After reading that earlier draft of the script I had something much more generic in mind. This looks more graceful and feline… at least from the outline. Who knows what it’ll look like once Cameron gets around to showing us a Na’vi with all its bits and pieces filled in, but I do like the idea of the Na’vi trying to bring shoulder pads back. Not because I like shoulder pads, but because I like the idea of an alien species trying to resurrect a bad fashion trend. Maybe we can throw some leg warmers on them too. Should look brilliant with those three-toed tootsies.

Avatar, Cameron’s first fully 3-D fictional film, is about an alien planet inhabited by tribal natives whom humans communicate with by mentally inhabiting the bodies of clones made from the alien’s DNA. The earlier draft of the script I read felt a lot like Quigley Down Under in Space, with an Al Gore pro-environmental twist. It’s currently slated for release in December of 2009.