For more from our Big Interview with James Cameron, check out Part 1 where he broke down a famous scene from Titanic and Part 2 where he reveals his feelings on AI in filmmaking.
James Cameron already has three of the highest-grossing movies in box office history, and later this year he’s shooting for a fourth. Avatar: Fire and Ash, the writer/director’s hotly-anticipated sequel to 2009’s Avatar and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, hits theaters December 19 and is sure to be one of the year’s biggest movies.
Cameron sat down with IGN ahead of the October 3 theatrical re-release of Avatar: The Way of Water to dive (no pun intended) into what fans can expect from the franchise’s newest entry.
Here are five things to know about Avatar: Fire and Ash directly from the King of the Na’vi himself, James Cameron.
You don’t HAVE to re-watch The Way of Water ahead of Fire and Ash, but you probably should
Disney and 20th Century Studios are sending Avatar: The Way of Water back to theaters on October 3rd so audiences will have another shot at seeing the movie, which grossed more than $2 billion at the box office, on the biggest screen possible. Cameron says it’s a great theatrical re-watch for Avatar fans, but it shouldn’t be seen as “homework.”
“I would say just go for the ride,” Cameron says. “All the characters in The Way of Water continue on into Fire and Ash. And then we get a number of new characters, one in particular – Varang (Oona Chaplin) of the Ash clan – who's quite important. I don't think you have to think of it as homework, right? You don't need to see The Way of Water to enjoy Fire and Ash. It's its own thing. But if you're a fan and if you want to get back into that head space and get back into following those characters, I think it's a great warm-up.”
The Sullys’ family bonds will be “torn apart” in Fire and Ash
Avatar: The Way of Water saw principal characters Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) grieving after the death of their eldest son, Neteyam. Cameron says that loss will propel much of the action in Fire and Ash.
“The events that happen to the Sully family, the way in which they interact, and the way they bond together and support each other is a critical part going forward into the new film,” he says. “But all those bonds get challenged as they get torn apart. Neytiri from Jake, Jake from his kids, the things that happen in (The Way of Water) inform the psychology and the emotions of the characters in (Fire and Ash).”
Cameron says that Neteyam’s death in Avatar: The Way of Water, while difficult, was one of his favorite scenes from the movie.
“It was a scene we all dreaded,” Cameron says. “We knew it was coming, everybody was prepared in their minds. But Sam and Zoe as parents, they were young and single when we did the first Avatar, and they'd been through some of the trials and tribulations of parenthood by the time we got to the second and third films. It always brings me to the edge of tears, even though I've seen the movie a thousand times. Zoe's just heart-wrenching scream juxtaposed in the same moment with Jake's stoicism. He doesn't know how to grieve, he doesn't know how to let it out. He's already processing the situation in a protective mode for the other characters.
“I'm always proud of that scene. And it's not what people think of when they think of an Avatar movie, but they should. When people think of an Avatar movie, they think of it as a kind of sprawling science fiction epic with beautiful scenery and lots of action and adventure. They don't think of it as this deep kind of heartwrenching experience. And I like to say that the films are about dynamic range. There's beauty and wonder, there's fear, chaos, action, and heartwrenching, emotional moments.”
We’ll get answers about Kiri’s origins in Fire and Ash as she becomes “much more central to the outcome” of the story
In Avatar: The Way of Water, Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is a character whose mysterious origins aren’t fully addressed. She was revealed to be the biological daughter of Grace Augustine’s (played by Weaver in the original movie) Avatar, but her parentage is a mystery beyond that. Cameron says questions surrounding Kiri will be definitively answered in Fire and Ash.
“Yes, yes, the answer is yes,” Cameron says. “I don't want to tell you what that outcome is, but Kiri remains the only question that's not answered (at the end of The Way of Water). She's the only plot point that remains unresolved. (In Fire and Ash) you get a lot of answers, but it deepens the mystery. So you'll get some clues, you'll get some legit answers, but her story is meant to be a running thread across the whole saga. She becomes a much more compelling character in (Fire and Ash), much more central to the outcome.”
Avatar: The Way of Water and Fire and Ash form a “complete story”
With Avatar: Fire and Ash eagerly anticipated by fans, audiences are already looking forward to further Avatar sequels. But James Cameron says that, even if no future Avatar films are made, The Way of Water and Fire and Ash form their own definitive story.
“I think it's important to think of (The Way of Water) and (Fire and Ash) as a complete story that fully resolves. (They) form one complete story arc,” he says. “For me, these films are about the darkness and the light that exists within us. It's not about humans versus Na’vi. The Na’vi represent our better nature and the humans in the story represent our more venal and greedy and less empathetic nature. You see that in (The Way of Water), you'll see it again in (Fire and Ash).”
Avatar 4 and 5 are not guaranteed
After Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters later this year, fans will have to wait a bit for further sequels. Avatar 4 is planned to release in 2029 with Avatar 5 following in 2031. But Cameron says those movies are far from guaranteed and depend entirely on the box office success of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
“If we get to movie 4, if. I want to emphasize that,” Cameron says. “It all depends on whether we're successful this time. It's always conditional. So (Avatar) 4 and 5 are kind of their own story, and we'll make those films together if we make them.”
Bonus: James Cameron’s favorite shot from Avatar: The Way of Water
With Avatar: The Way of Water heading back to cinemas, we asked Cameron if there was one specific moment from the movie that he considers the “quintessential James Cameron shot.” He unsurprisingly picked a scene that combined technical wizardry with deep human emotion, characteristic of many of his films.
“There's a shot that was proposed in the art department,” Cameron says. “Just in a beautiful painting of (Jake and Neytiri’s son) Lo’ak touching the fin of Payakan. And it forms this gorgeous, horizontally composed frame and CinemaScope aspect ratio, and it's almost in a way symbolic of the movie and thematically for Avatar. It's like a character we relate to. He's not human, but he looks human in silhouette, touching (this) mighty and majestic figure who in a sense represents nature. And that's what the films are about. And I thought that synthesized and symbolized that movie perfectly.”
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He's spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton
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