In the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jake Sully, portrayed by Sam Worthington, is set to confront fresh challenges as the story picks up just two weeks after the events of Avatar: The Way of Water. The loss of his eldest son, Neteyam, remains a raw wound, leaving Jake grappling with grief and trauma. “Everybody in this movie is reacting from a place of trauma,” says director James Cameron.
Jake’s protective nature, seen in the previous film, has been eroded by his son’s death. “The peacemaker that Jake was in 2 has changed, because he’s grieving,” Worthington explains. “He doesn’t know how to go forward, and so he goes back to the world that he knows, which is soldiering.”
This emotional turmoil threatens the core relationship between Jake and Neytiri. “Because of Neteyam’s death, there is now a division in that relationship,” Worthington reveals. “Jake and Neytiri share this painful wound, but they can’t seem to heal each other. So, they kind of split, not because they want to, but because they’re just trying to survive within themselves.”
Cameron emphasizes the importance of authentic character drama in grounding the fantastical world of Avatar. “I think if you’re authentic about life and emotion and relationships, it doesn’t matter how crazy your world-building is,” he says. “I’m on a flying fish — but I believe that flying fish. It’s a pretty f---ing good flying fish.”
With the couple divided, more war on the horizon, and the new Na’vi villain Varang adding fuel to the fire, Avatar: Fire and Ash promises to be an intense and emotional journey.
Watch Avatar: Fire and Ash only in theaters December 19, 2025.
And revisit the first two films in the series, Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, available to stream now on Disney+.
This information originally appeared in Empire magazine.
