At D23 recently, Disney officially announced the title of the third Avatar movie– Avatar: Fire and Ash. But what is the significance of that title? Director James Cameron said in an interview that it took a while to find the right name for the film, and in the end, he hopes the title conveys that the film is focused on anger and violence, as well as the aftermath of that being grief and loss.
“It took a long time to come up with a title that I felt resonated with what’s in the film,” Cameron told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t think I could say too much about it until you actually see the film and you see what it means, but if you think of fire as hatred, anger, violence, that sort of thing, and ash is the aftermath. So what’s the aftermath? Grief, loss, right? And then what does that cause in the future? More violence, more anger, more hatred. It’s a vicious cycle. So that’s the thinking.”
Cameron went on to say that it’s not correct to think of Fire and Ash as a “dark” film, though he acknowledged that it does indeed go to “darker places” than the first two films.
“But it’s still obviously this open, glorious, grand adventure, which is what we aspire to do every time we set out,” he said. “We’re not afraid to go into the dark places of our characters, which I think is also good. I think that’s also what people really feel they want when they get to know a character well, either through a series or whatever it is that they follow. They want to know more. They want to know more about them, find out what their limits are, so to speak. And we do that.”
Fire and Ash takes viewers to a new biome on Pandora, with Game of Thrones actor Oona Chaplin portraying Varang, the leader of the Ash People.
The 2009 original Avatar focused on the Omaticaya group of Na’vi, who dwell in the forest, while Avatar: The Way of Water introduced viewers to the Metkayina, who live near and around the water. Both groups love Pandora and seek to protect it from humans.
Fire and Ash, however, introduces a group of Na’vi who are not always benevolent. “I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides,” Cameron said in a 2023 interview.
Fire and Ash brings back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet, reprising their roles from the earlier movies. Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh was announced as a new member of the Avatar franchise some time ago, but she will not make her appearance as Dr. Karina Mogue until Avatar 4.
2009’s Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time, and 2022’s The Way of Water is No. 3, so Fire and Ash has big shoes to fill. The film is set for release in December 2025.
In other news, Cameron said he plans to come back to direct Avatar 4 and 5, unless he gets hit by a bus. He had previously discussed the possibility of passing the baton to someone else.
Beyond the Avatar series, Cameron is working on a mysterious new Terminator project.
