James Cameron's Avatar movies have proven to be extremely divisive, but no matter how you feel about him devoting such a huge chunk of his career to the series, seeing Pandora on the big screen remains quite the spectacle. From lush jungles to blue skies and, in 2022's The Way of Water, sweeping oceans, the planet is visually breathtaking.
However, when Avatar: Fire and Ash takes us to the home of the Mangkwan Clan (a.k.a. the Ash Clan), we'll explore the Ash Village, a location that's vastly different to what we've grown used to seeing in these movies.
That doesn't mean we're leaving Pandor's oceans behind, though, something that's evident from a newly revealed piece of concept art showing Lo'ak riding an ilu. Then again, perhaps this was to be expected.
Talking to Empire Online (via SFFGazette.com), Cameron explained how Avatar: The Way of Water evolved in the writers' room and confirmed many of the ideas he had for the sequel have now expanded into the upcoming threequel.
"In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of movie 2," the filmmaker explained. "The [film] was moving like a bullet train, and we weren’t drilling down enough on character. So I said, 'Guys, we’ve got to split it.'" As a result, "movie 3 will actually be a little bit longer than movie 2" (The Way of Water clocked in at 3 hours, 12 minutes).
Writer Amanda Silver tells the site, "It was spectacular. You’re talking about a character deeply for days and days, and all of a sudden there they are. The characters needed to breathe. These movies are a lot more than just propulsive plot and gorgeous spectacle. I mean, these are real characters."
"These characters are amalgams of us, our childhoods, our role as parents, the mistakes we made, and probably to some extent continue to make as parents," Cameron added. "I mean, Jake is a hard-ass mother[frick]er. He’s very hard on his kids. Well, that’s me."
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jake and Neytiri will encounter the "Ash People," a new clan of Na'vi, though that's really all we have in terms of officially released plot details right now.
Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones) plays the leader of the Ash People, Varang. David Thewlis and Michelle Yeoh are also joining the cast alongside returning stars Sam Worthington, Zeo Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, and Dileep Rao.
Avatar: Fire and Ash will be released in theaters on December 19.