James Cameron Teases What Is To Come for 'Avatar 3' With New Concept Art

James Cameron recently sat down with Empire Magazine to give fans an look inside what they can expect for Avatar 3. Titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, the film is the follow-up to the 2022 film Avatar: The Way of Water.

Cinematic icon James Cameron shares with Empire a selection of concept artworks for the upcoming film, giving a fans a visual teaser of what can be expected in the next chapter of the Sully story. As audiences ask questions of where Jake and Neytiri’s family will go next and who they will meet along the way. In an interview with the publication, Cameron has also revealed that in one of the concept art pieces titled “Ash Clan,” where a fearsome figurehead seems to fly over the lands on a four-winged creature, Cameron explained, “Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She’s hardened by that.” On the central character, Cameron continues, “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.” Set to be played by Oona Chaplin, Cameron praises her portrayal of Varang call it “so good that I didn’t quite appreciate how good her performance is until we got the Wētā animation back.” He added, “She’s an enemy, an adversarial character but [Chaplin] makes her feel so real and alive.”

The concept art reveals Wind Traders which are seen soaring amongst amongst the clouds in larger than life corral Pandoran creatures. “hey’re nomadic traders, equivalent to the camel caravans of the Spice Road back in the Middle Ages…Like all Na’vi, they live in a symbiosis with their creatures.” Cameron also teased, “If you’ve got any nautical blood in your veins, you’ll want to be on [their] ship.” Avatar: Fire and Ash is expected to run around three hours and is slated to introduce two new Na’vi tribes, the “Ash People” aka the Mangkwan Clan as well as the potential “Fire Na’vi” tribe.

Avatar: Fire and Ash premieres on December 19, 2025.