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James Cameron Warns 'Avatar' Fans: Sequel Might Not Be What You 'Signed Up For'
The exact plot of the third Avatar film—Avatar: Fire and Ash— is not yet known. We know there's a new nomadic clan called the Wind Traders, and we know the story will explore even more of the planet Pandora than the previous two films. But what actually goes down in this movie, and how that pushes the larger epic of Avatar forward is unclear. But, director and Avatar maestro James Cameron does want fans to know that they better get ready. This cinematic ride might not be what everyone actually wants, or at least what they're expecting.
In a widely circulated interview with Empire (which was excerpted by IndieWire and others), Cameron hints that the nature of Avatar: Fire and Ash is to not repeat anything from the previous two movies, noting that he feels compelled to change things up with every new film in the series.
"You’ve got to break the mold every fricking time," Cameron said. "It’s a tricky thing. We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it goes, ‘F--k, that’s not what I signed up for.’ But if you’re not making brave choices, you’re wasting everybody’s time and money."
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But what is Cameron actually warning us about here? Beyond dazzling visuals, has the Avatar series actually broken new ground since 2009? The main villain of the first film, Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) was brought back from the dead in The Way of Water, resurrected as a Na'vi Avatar, known as a Recombinant. Quaritch survived the events of The Way of Water, and in previous interviews, James Cameron has indicated that Quaritch would be the baddie in all the sequels. In 2017, Cameron said: "There’s not a new villain every time, which is interesting. Same guy. Same motherf--ker through all four movies. He is so good and he just gets better. I know Stephen Lang is gonna knock this out of the park.”
At the same time, Cameron said: “The interesting conceit of the Avatar sequels is it’s pretty much the same characters." So, if Avatar 3 is going to be wild and different and shock everyone, it's (probably) not going to achieve those goals with new characters.
With James Cameron, anything is possible.
Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19, 2025.
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