Everything We Know About Avatar 3

Spoilers for The Way of Water ahead.

If the movie ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ has shown us anything, it’s that humans can be very greedy – for eternal life, revenge, tulkun brain juice, and more Avatar movies. With the success of James Cameron’s follow-up to his 2009 Best Picture nominee, fans are eagerly waiting for more of Jake Sully’s captivating voice-over. Thirteen years after the first film, with its predictable storyline, ‘The Way of Water’ has expanded the Avatar universe and ignited discussions about possible future sequels. Here is what we currently know about ‘Avatar 3’, including its subtitle, release date, and new Na’vi characters.

It’s not called Avatar 3

Get used to saying, “My favorite movie is Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

It comes out on December 19, 2025

Have you heard that it’s been pushed back no less than nine times? Or perhaps you find it hard to believe, but it was initially planned for release in 2015.

It takes place not long after The Way of Water

In the third Avatar film, we can expect a continuous narrative without significant time leaps, as James Cameron is filming both Avatar: The Way of Water and its sequel concurrently since 2017. This approach allows the original characters, including Sully, Neytiri, and their children, to remain in their roles without aging out too much. Additionally, Miles Quaritch will continue as the primary antagonist. By 2021, Cameron had finished filming with the younger actors and all motion-capture filming. However, he still needed to shoot some live-action scenes for a few adult characters. In 2022, producer Jon Landau revealed that they had completed 95% of Avatar 3 and even the entire first act of Avatar 4.

Avatar 3 will be wetter and better

In simpler terms, Russell Carpenter, the Director of Photography, shared with Polygon that “more underwater scenes were filmed for the other film.

… But also higher and drier

In an interview with the French news program 20 Minutes, Cameron shared that the upcoming third film will delve into diverse cultures previously unexplored, such as the fire-based Ash clan. He expressed his intention to portray the Na’vis from a different perspective, as he has only shown their positive aspects thus far. In the initial films, there were negative human examples and positive Na’vi examples. However, in Avatar 3, this dynamic will be reversed. The story will also venture into new cosmos while progressing the main characters’ narrative. The trailer reveals a Pandoran volcano and the desolate terrain of the Ash clan, inhabited by aggressive Na’vi contrasting with their peaceful counterparts in the first two films. These Na’vi have chosen violence, engaging in combat with both the good guys and human paramilitary. It appears that Quaritch has allied himself with them, as depicted by his presence in their red war-paint. It’s essential to remember that not all Na’vi are the same!

Additionally, it provides a glimpse into the Windtraders, a group of Na’vi who traverse through the skies aboard their airships. Interestingly, one of the shops in Disney World’s Pandora, named Windtraders, has been operational since 2017, thereby setting the stage for an airborne merchant class on Pandora within the lore for quite some time.

There will be more Kate Winslet

In the sequel, my character Ronal had a smaller part, but let me tell you, it wasn’t just any role that earned me that iconic image of me flapping a large cloak in a motion-capture suit underwater. That snapshot was actually for a scene featured in the third movie.

Plus new characters, too

David Thewlis portrays Peylak, a windtrader Na’vi character, who will feature in the fourth and fifth installments of the movie series. Oona Chaplin assumes the role of Varang, leader of the Ash clan. As Cameron shared with Empire in January, Varang is a strong, resilient leader who has endured great hardship. She’s tough enough to make sacrifices that others might deem as evil for her people. In the trailer, she utters “There is no rule of your goddess here.” It seems possible that Vin Diesel may be connected to the plot in some capacity as well.

Our friends the Tulkun will return

In an earlier announcement this year, VFX supervisor Richard Baneham of ‘Avatar’ revealed that the character, Payakan, will return. Additionally, he disclosed that Payakan now has a love interest named Ta’nok. According to him, the audience’s positive response encouraged them to develop and showcase Payakan at the peak of his abilities.

Wasn’t this one going to be called The Seed Bearer?

The rumors about the movie titles weren’t accurate. In 2018, BBC leaked possible names for upcoming sequels, with “The Seed Bearer” being a strong contender. Other leaked titles in the series were “Avatar: The Tulkun Rider” and “Avatar: The Quest for Eywa”. Although “The Seed Bearer” subtitle didn’t end up being used, it provides an essential piece of information to the overall storyline of the Avatar films. In the first sequel, we discover that Dr. Grace Augustine’s dormant avatar (played by Sigourney Weaver) gave birth to a daughter named Kiri (also played by Sigourney Weaver). The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy and impregnator remain a mystery to other characters. If Kiri’s unusual abilities and strong connection to Eywa symbolize a virgin birth on Pandora, then Eywa, the Na’vi’s version of a deity often represented by trees or flora (understood as “seed bearer”), would be her other parent. Already in the film, human scientists attribute Kiri’s powers to epilepsy; however, many scholars speculate that certain religious prophets were, in fact, epileptic. The writers of the franchise have stated, “I don’t think we ever discussed her specifically as a Na’vi Jesus,” but they also confirmed she is not simply not that. Despite the title change, we can anticipate the third film to delve into the mysteries surrounding Kiri, an Intergalactic Girl-Messiah figure.

2025-07-23 00:54