Avatar: Fire And Ash Director James Cameron Explains What The Sci-Fi Sequel's Title Means

We all share a common goal: to make the entries in James Cameron's "Avatar" franchise the biggest box office hits ever released, despite naysayers who think these movies have no "cultural impact."

While we wait for the next film to arrive and remind us of our collective love for alien worlds and space whales, we at last know the title of the third chapter in the saga, and no, it's not "The Seed Bearer," so pour one out for the "Avatar" title that never was. Instead, during this year's D23 convention, James Cameron took the stage to delight Pandora aficionados with new details about the third film, officially titled "Avatar: Fire and Ash." Cameron's presentation mostly included concept art showing the main things we can expect from the new "Avatar." After "The Way of Water" took us to the oceans of Pandora, we're now going to the skies, with the concept art revealing large flying jellyfish airships straight out of "Final Fantasy" as well as fire Na'vi covered in white ash and creepy masks while dancing around flames. 

Cameron teased the story of the new film, saying, "We're going into really challenging territory for all the characters you know and love." Though plot details are scarce, we do know that we will meet a new tribe of Na'vi known as the "Ash People," meant to be more violent and evil than any we've seen in the movies before. Oona Chaplin will play that clan's leader, Varang.

Speaking to Rotten Tomatoes, James Cameron explained the meaning of the title. "Fire can represent hatred, violence, trauma, possible misuse of power," he said, teasing that the plot of the third "Avatar" movie will get darker and somehow more violent than the two attempted genocides we've already seen. "Ash represents the aftermath of all of that energy, which is grief and having to live with what you've done." 

Based on his explanation, it is clear that "Avatar: Fire and Ash" is promising to be the franchise's equivalent of "Revenge of the Sith," the dark chapter where everything goes wrong for our heroes and Eywa's light is nowhere to be seen. The Ash Na'vi tribe will obviously have huge implications for the franchise going forward, and based on Cameron's comments on hatred and violence, it's possible we will see an inter-species war amongst the Na'vi in the upcoming film. Given that we know "Avatar 4" will introduce a big time jump, it's likely "Fire and Ash" will end not on a cliffhanger but a place of no escape, possibly with one of our heroes death and the rest taking refuse and laying low for a long while.

Particularly intriguing is that some fans have noted that part of the concept art shown at D23 looks a lot like concept art for James Cameron's 1978 "Xenogenesis" short film which showed a giant floating alien jellyfish.

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" is expected to hit theaters on December 19, 2025. "Avatar 4" is set to release December 21, 2029 and "Avatar 5" after the end of human civilization but before the rise of the planet of apes on December 19, 2031. 

Here's the thing about Cameron's comments about fire. Fans of the "Avatar" animated series (which isn't connected to Cameron's movies, but had to add a subtitle because of James Cameron's "Avatar") already know that fire is more than just power, violence and anger. In the season 3 episode, "The Firebending Masters," Zuko and Aang discover the origin of firebending from two ancient dragons and learn that fire is not just violence, but warmth and life. 

The irony of the third "Avatar" movie being about fire is not lost on cartoon fans. The first movie was about digging the earth and a Na'vi tribe connecting with animals and nature. The second movie was all about water and a water tribe. Now we get a fire Na'vi tribe and the movie's title literally includes the word "fire." All that is left is the fourth movie to have "air" in the title and for Eywa to have a literal avatar on Pandora that can control all four elements, and we'd maybe finally have the "Last Airbender" adaptation we truly deserve.

As for James Cameron's "Avatar," coincidences or not, it is still great to see that the filmmaker continues to show vastly new biomes and areas of Pandora in each new installment of the movies. How long he can keep doing this is anyone's guess, but it continues to be a delight for moviegoers to see this world be fleshed out.