James Cameron’s third Avatar movie is expected to hit screens at the end of this year, and from the serene pools of The Way of Water, we’ll be flying high as the heat is turned up in Fire and Ash. As with the other Avatar movies, this means new tribes, and Cameron has shown off two in a new interview.
Speaking to Empire Magazine, Cameron described the Ash Clan of Na’vi, and they seem like they’ll definitely stand out. Their leader, Varang, will do anything for her clan. “Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship,” Cameron explains. “She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil. One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic. We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm.”
Alongside the hot-headed Ash Clan, we’ll also see the nomadic Wind Traders, who soar across the sky in giant tamed creatures from Pandora. “They’re nomadic traders, equivalent to the camel caravans of the Spice Road back in the Middle Ages,” Cameron said. “And you know, they’re just fun. Like all Na’vi, they live in a symbiosis with their creatures. If you’ve got any nautical blood in your veins, you’ll want to be on [their] ship.”
Varang, the leader of the Ash Clan, is played by Oona Chaplin, arguably known best for her role as Talisa in Game of Thrones. “I didn’t quite appreciate how good her performance is until we got the Wētā animation back,” Cameron said, praising the actress. “She’s an enemy, an adversarial character, but [Chaplin] makes her feel so real and alive.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash premieres in cinemas on the 19th of December.