Avatar 3 Caps Off A Fiery Trilogy — But Leaves The Door Open For Avatar 4
What’s next for the Sullys?
James Cameron knows there’s a chance that his Avatar franchise could end with its third installment, Fire & Ash, at least on the big screen. The film series he’s dedicated the past few decades to is easily the most expensive ever attempted, and though its payoff is appropriately huge, there’s no telling if Fire & Ash will break the same box office records as Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water.
While the most visually stunning of the trilogy, Fire & Ash is not quite as narratively satisfying. At worst, it feels like a retread of moments from both previous films, even if those moments are rendered with incredible effect. Its cooler reception from critics — it debuted with a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes — might also affect the film’s commercial success. Cameron has been open about continuing the tale of the Sully clan elsewhere if Fire & Ash doesn’t recoup its costs: while the film does work to tie up most of its loose threads, it does leave the door open for this story to continue, namely through a long-teased redemption arc. Let’s break down the ending of Fire & Ash, how it sets up the next phase of this franchise, and whether it could all continue on the big screen.
Warning: spoilers ahead for Avatar: Fire & Ash.
Avatar: Fire & Ash ending explained
The Sullys deal with a crisis of faith after The Way of Water.
Fire & Ash picks up in the immediate aftermath of The Way of Water, with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) grappling with the loss of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), their eldest son. Grief and anger inform a lot of the action in Fire & Ash, paving the way for the introduction of a thematically appropriate new villain. The Sully clan finds itself in the crosshairs of the Mangkwan Clan, anarchists and bandits who plunder and subjugate other clans as a form of revenge against Eywa, the goddess who abandoned them in their time of need.
Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of these “Ash People,” teams up with an old enemy of Jake’s, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Their interests align: Varang wants to go scorched earth (literally) on anyone who believes in Eywa, while Quaritch — despite being reincarnated in a Na’vi “avatar” — still strives to colonize Pandora for the human-led RDA. The corporation is just as evil as ever in Fire & Ash, and mostly still focused on hunting the sentient, whale-like species known as Tulkun. As they can’t breathe Pandora’s air, their presence, while devastating, isn’t as overwhelming as it could be. But when Spider (Jack Champion), the human son of Quaritch who’s been raised by the Sullys since birth, gains the ability to breathe without a mask, he becomes the RDA’s new target.
The Sully clan is more united than ever at the end of Fire & Ash.
Fire & Ash has many moving parts, but the struggle to keep Spider out of the wrong hands is one of its biggest and most consequential. While the Na’vi fight the RDA and the Ash People, Jake is busy dueling with Quaritch, this time in a magnetic vortex that steals their metal weapons and send RDA ships hurtling towards them. Quaritch nearly loses his life in their battle, but ultimately escapes the vortex by the skin of his teeth.
Neytiri’s enmity with Varang also reaches a violent peak when the youngest Sully (Trinity Bliss’ Tuk) is once again taken hostage. Fortunately, the elder Sully children also step up in a major way. Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who’s as close to a Na’vi messiah as these films have, achieves miracle after miracle by bonding with Pandora and interceding with Eywa. She helps save the Tulkun from RDA poachers and even rescues Tuk from Varang. It ends on a triumphant note, despite a few casualties — namely Ronal (Kate Winslet), the matriarch of the Metkayina Clan, who perishes after giving birth to her third child.
Neytiri agrees to watch after Ronal’s baby, making the Sully clan that much bigger. It’s also on a more united front than ever, with Jake and Neytiri fully accepting Spider into the family. Still, there’s a lot of healing left to do — and with both Varang and Quaritch still alive, their troubles are far from over.
How Avatar 3 sets up Avatar 4
Varang would most likely return in Avatar 4.
Per Cameron, there is “one open thread” that could justify another sequel after Fire & Ash — and that’s most likely its villains. Varang lives to fight another day at the end of the film, as does Quaritch. While there’s a high chance that the former will return to pose an even bigger threat to the Sullys (ideally becoming the main villain in Avatar 4, rather than the smaller antagonist she is in Fire & Ash), Quaritch could finally get the redemption arc that Cameron has been subtly teeing up since The Way of Water.
While the human Quaritch disparaged Jake Sully for “going native” in the first Avatar, he has to eat his words in Fire & Ash. His cognitive dissonance is at an all-time high in this film, thanks chiefly to his relationship with Varang and the Ash People. He still fights for the RDA, but his complicated bond with Spider, who’s staunchly on the side of the Na’vi, could finally force him to shift his allegiance.
Cameron told Empire that Fire & Ash begins an “identity crisis” for Quaritch: “At what point does he cross that line and realise he’s more Na’vi than he is human?” In a film packed with compelling themes, the idea of redemption for Quaritch might be the most interesting. Let’s hope Cameron gets to explore it in future films — if not, he’s prepared to write a book instead.
