Summary
The nextAvatarfilm is shaping up to be as much of a spectacle as the two that came before it, but the filmmaker behind the franchise has zeroed in on one aspect of the previous projects that the upcoming threequel can really improve on to stand out.
TheAvatarfranchise has been an institution in the film industry since James Cameron first shocked the world in 2009 withAvatar,which redefined what most people thought was possible to do with visuals in film. This was followed up more than a decade later withAvatar: The Way of Water,which similarly dazzled audiences andbeat out some of Cameron’s previous work for a place on the all-time list. Now, the third of five planned films is coming to theaters in the form of 2025’s planned threequelAvatar: Fire and Ash,and fans have been actively discussing how this upcoming installment will set itself apart without the massive time gap and leaps in cinematography that the second film gained from.
While fans might have been focused on the franchise’s signature visual appeal, a recent interview reveals that Cameron has a much more interesting focus this time around with the latest project. NewAvatar: Fire and Ashphotos gave fans a fresh look at a new Na’vi clan, and this new group and their leader Varang are set to play an important part in Cameron’s plan to improve on his winning formula. “Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She’s hardened by that,” Cameron explained in an interview withEmpire. “She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil.” Cameron then settles in on how this will enrich the narrative of the upcoming project in a way that the franchise hasn’t quite gotten yet, explaining, “One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic…. We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm,”
This is great news as it wasn’t long ago thatCameron previously discussed addressing a lack of nuance and character focus, which was a throughline in the criticism of the two previous entries in the franchise. While the first film was given a free pass by its visual spectacle and the privilege of introducing the factions and world for the first time,Way of Watergot way more flak for rethreading the same morally simplistic dynamic from the first film.Fire and Ashwould benefit a lot for being the project that steps away from this into more complex and interesting dynamics with some moral grey thrown in. Central to this is Oona Chaplin’s performance as Varang, a role that Cameron says was “-so good that I didn’t quite appreciate how good her performance is until we got the Wētā animation back.” Fans shouldn’t hold out hope that Varang will play nice at some point, though. “She’s an enemy, an adversarial character,” Cameron reiterates, “but [Chaplin] makes her feel so real and alive.”
With a franchise likeAvatar,there’s almost no chance that a focus on adding nuance to the formula could go awry, and this could be the start of something even greater than the already massive box-office success it’s seen so far.Avatar: Fire And Ash’sruntime has recently been revealed, and it’s going to be quite an experience for viewers when it releases. If Cameron’s promises are fulfilled, the three-hour duration is going to be well spent and could mark a turning point in the public conceptualization of the franchise ahead of the last two films in the series, released in 2029 and 2031, respectively.
Avatar: Fire and Ashis currently set for theatrical release on July 12, 2025.
