Avatar was a box office hit in 2009, and 13 years later, 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water was also a huge hit, grossing over $2.3 billion at the worldwide box office. Now, all eyes are on Avatar: Fire and Ash to do the same this December.
The sequel introduced us to Payakan, a tulkun (space whale), who is now confirmed to return in the next instalment. Talking to Empire (via SFFGazette.com), VFX supervisor and executive producer Richard Baneham said, "He’s turned out to be one of the most popular characters."
"The reaction emboldened us to go forward and play Payakan at the very highest level," he continued, adding that Payakan now has a female friend, Ta'nok, "another outcast" who has a really "great dynamic" with her fellow tulkun.
Then, there are clan leaders, Matriarch and Patriarch. "Matriarch is a very interesting character," Baneham teased. "She’s in full regalia. We’re using rings and tattoos as a way to suggest [history] beyond what we’re seeing."
As well as taking us back underwater, Avatar: Fire and Ash looks set to explore a fiery corner of Pandora by introducing a new tribe of Ash People, known as the Mangkwan Clan.
Filmmaker James Cameron has previously said that the Ash People are a reflection of the worst side of N'avi, suggesting he pulled inspiration from reality when he noted, "We have a lot of anger and a lot of rage in the world we live in right now."
The threequel's other newly introduced N'avi tribe will be nomadic and travel through the air; however, the Ash People "were destroyed by volcanic eruptions, so they resent nature and everything the forest Na'vi preach."
Avatar: Fire and Ash was shot back-to-back with 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water. Cameron originally planned for them to be one movie, but soon realised there was too much material and expanded the story across parts two and three (a fourth instalment is also in development).
In the threequel, 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.
Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver wrote Avatar: Fire and Ash and the movie will be released in theaters on December 19.