December 16, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by James Cameron
Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth and on the fictional planet of Pandora, the sci-fi action film “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (the third movie in the “Avatar” series) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latinos and Asians) portraying humans and non-humans.
Culture Clash: Jake Sully and Neytiri—who are the main heroes of the “Avatar” franchise and the leaders of the Omatikaya clan on the planet Pandora—are grieving the death of their eldest son, while Jake is still the target of revenge for being a traitor to Earth, with an old enemy who has teamed up with a new enemy to try to capture Jake.
Culture Audience: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Avatar” movie series, the movie’s headliners, filmmaker James Cameron and sci-fi- movies that have dazzling visual effects.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” recycles the “Avatar: The Way of Water” plot of Jake Sully being hunted for betraying Earth, with a major villain added to this sequel. Top-notch visual effects and exciting action meet expectations, but this franchise is running out of original ideas. There is no shocking plot twist. And although “Avatar: Fire and Ash” has plenty of energetic scenes, the story did not need to be made into a movie that has a total run time of nearly three-and-a-half hours. At least 60 minutes could’ve been cut from “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” and it wouldn’t have made much difference to how the movie ends.
Directed by James Cameron, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (the third movie in the “Avatar” series) was written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Cameron has directed and written or co-written all of the “Avatar” movies so far. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” picks up shortly after the events of 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” (the second movie in the “Avatar” series), which brought back characters from 2009’s “Avatar” and introduced several new characters, including the children of Jake (played by Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (played by Zoe Saldaña), who are Na’vi creatures living on the planet Pandor. Na’vi adults are about 10 feet tall and have striped skin, human-like arms and legs, and long tails.
In the first “Avatar” movie, Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington), a wheelchair-using U.S. Marine, was assigned to be a bodyguard for Dr. Grace Augustine (played by Sigourney Weaver), the leader of the Avatar Program that gives the ability for humans to appear in the form of something else. Jake defied the government’s plan for military people to disguise themselves as Pandora natives call the Na’vi, in order to deplete the moon planet of Pandora (located in the Alpha Centauri system) for the precious resource unobtanium. Na’vi people are a humanoid species. At the end of the first “Avatar” movie, Jake left behind his human life on Earth to become a Na’vi.
The beginning of “Avatar: The Way of Water” took place about 15 years after the first movie took place. Jake has been happily married to Neytiri, the female Na’vi who saved his life in the first “Avatar” movie. Jake and Neytiri fell in love in the first “Avatar” movie. They now live on Pandora, where Jake is the leader of the blue-skinned Omatikaya clan, which lives and thrives in the forest.
Jake and Neytiri are parents to four children: teenage son Neteyam (played by Jamie Flatters) is the “role model” eldest child; teenage son Lo’ak (played by Britain Dalton) is slightly rebellious and living in the shadow of Neteyam; adopted teenage daughter Kiri (played by Weaver) is haunted by the memories of her biological mother; and pre-teen daughter Tuk (played by Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) is friendly and playful. The four Sully kids are very close to a human named Spider (played by Jack Champion), who was orphaned by the war between the Na’vi and humans.
Through a series of circumstances in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the Sully family were forced to leave their home. They fled to another part of Pandora, where they were taken in as refugees by the green-skinned Metkayina clan. Whereas the forest is the primary domain of the Omatikaya clan, the ocean is the primary domain of the Metkayina clan, which reluctantly lets the Sully family live with them because it’s a Na’vi tradition to help refugees of Pandora.
The leaders of the Metkayina clan are upstanding and fair-minded Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). and his compassionate wife Ronal (played by Kate Winslet), who is still pregnant at the beginning of “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” just like she was in “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Ronal and Tonowari told their teenage children—daughter Tsireya (played by Bailey Bass) and older son Aonung (played by Filip Geljo)—to attempt to teach the Sully kids how to adapt to the clan’s water activities, customs and traditions. Aonung was somewhat hostile to these newcomers, while Tsireya was welcoming.
Mild spoiler alert for those who don’t know what happened “Avatar: The Way of Water”: Neteyam was killed in battle, and Lo’ak blames himself for Neteyam’s death. This death is mentioned early and often in “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” so it’s not spoiler information to anyone who watches “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The family’s grief over Neteyam’s death affects the family members in different ways. Jake wants to push his sad feelings aside and keep working, while Neytiri is consumed with depression and can barely function in the beginning of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
In “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Tsireya and Lo’ak had an immediate “attraction at first sight” the first time that they meet each other, which is an attraction that continues in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” It led to some romantic moments but also some tensions, particularly from Aonung, who clashed with and bullied Lo’ak during much of “Avatar: The Way of Water.” By the end of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Aonung grew to respect Lo’ak and was sympathetic about the death of Neteyam.
In the first “Avatar” movie, the U.S. government’s Resources Development Administration (RDA) was in charge of raiding Pandora for unobtanium because resources on Earth have diminished. The RDA still exists in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and they consider Jake to be a traitorous enemy because of what happened in the first “Avatar” movie. As described in the “Avatar: The Way of Water” production notes: “In addition to having an armada of weaponized land, air and sea vehicles at their disposal, the RDA has brought with them a secret weapon: an elite team of soldiers resurrected as recombinants (recoms). Recoms are autonomous avatars embedded with the memories of the humans whose DNA was used to create them.”
This group of recom soldiers has been tasked with one primary mission: Find and kill Jake. The leader of this mission is Recom Colonel Miles Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang), the avatar of the human Colonel Miles Quaritch (also played by Lang), who was head of RDA’s security force and Jake’s biggest adversary in the first “Avatar” movie. During this mission, the recom soldiers appear in the form of Na’vi when they go to Pandora to hunt down Jake.
Other characters in “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (who were also in “Avatar: The Way of Water”) include General Ardmore (played by Edie Falco), a ruthless official from RDA; Captain Mick Scoresby (played by Brendan Cowell) and Dr. Ian Garvin (played by Jemaine Clement), who were recruited by RDA to help track down Jake and find more unobtanium; and scientist Dr. Norm Spellman (played by Joel David Moore) who was an ally to Jake in the first “Avatar” movie.
In “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the new major villain is a Na’vi creature named Varang (played by Oona Chaplin), the leader of the Mangkwan clan, also known as the Ash People, a group of marauding fighters that are fascinated with fire. The Mangkwan clan/Ash People are Na’vi with white skin. The movie depicts them as a pagan cult that does fire rituals. The Ash People’s territory was destroyed by a volcano, so they blame Eywa, the All-Mother of Pandora, which is a divine spiritual entity.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is basically a series of fights and chase scenes as the Ash People invade the forest where the Omatikaya clan lives. Miles and Varang form an alliance that turns into a twisted romance. Kiri discovers that she has psychic abilities that have to do with her genetics and parentage. And there’s a lot of drama about which side Spider will take when Jake decides that Spider is better off being sent back to Earth, due to some health and safety issues.
It was revealed in “Avatar: The Way of Water” that Miles is Spider’s biological father. This information is repeated many times in “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” so this is more information that could be considered “spoiler information” for people who see “Avatar: Fire and Ash” without knowing what happened in “Avatar: The Way of Water.” All of the returning cast members in “Avatar: Fire and Ash” do more of the same that they did in “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Chaplin is quite effective in her villain role, but Varang won’t be considered one of the all-time great sci-fi movie villains.
There are no real surprises in “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” although fans of this franchise will enjoy seeing many of these characters again. When it feels like homework and research to understand, recap, or try to remember everything that happens in a movie franchise, it’s a sign that the franchise is becoming too complicated for average viewers. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” can be recommended only to people who’ve seen or who know what happened in the first two “Avatar” movies, because everyone else might feel lost or just won’t care.
20th Century Studios will release “Avatar: Fire and Ash” in U.S. cinemas on December 19, 2025.
