The first trailer for James Cameron’s third Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, has been released by Disney, following its footage leaking after the teaser was shown exclusively in theaters last week with ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’. The trailer takes moviegoers back to Pandora and introduces two new tribes: the Wind Traders and the fire-wielding Ash People clan.Earlier, filmmaker James Cameron took the stage at the 2024 D23 Expo to give viewers a glimpse of the terrifying, soot-covered tribe dancing around a massive fire pit. “You’ll see a lot more Pandora than you’ve ever seen before,” Cameron said at the Expo. “It’s an insane adventure and a feast for the eyes, but it’s also got very high emotional stakes—more than ever before,” he said during the presentation. “We’re going into really challenging territory for all the characters you know and love.In the trailer, Jake Sully’s family and the Metkayina are shown joining forces to fight Varang and her flaming army, who have allied with Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Parts of Pandora’s woodland are shown burning due to Varang’s fires, hinting at her ability to control fire. At the end of the trailer, she ominously declares, “Your goddess has no dominion here.”The first Avatar, released in 2009, became the highest-grossing film of all time, raking in $2.9 billion globally. The first sequel, 2022’s The Way of Water, became the third-highest-grossing movie of all time (with $2.3 billion), exceeding expectations and silencing those who doubted Cameron could deliver another Avatar blockbuster. Few now question his ability to draw enormous box office returns with the franchise, and there is strong confidence that Fire and Ash will succeed when it releases on December 19 as a major holiday tentpole.Cameron hinted that Fire and Ash “will be a bit longer” than The Way of Water, although a runtime has not yet been confirmed. The last film ran for three hours and twelve minutes.“In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of [The Way of Water],” Cameron recently said. “The [film] was moving like a bullet train, and we weren’t drilling down enough on character. So I said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to split it.’ [Fire & Ash] will actually be a little bit longer than [The Way of Water].”Cameron has planned five Avatar films and intends to direct all of them. Much of the footage, he has said, has already been shot. Avatar 4 is set for release on December 21, 2029, and Avatar 5 will arrive on December 19, 2031.Along with Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, the returning cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, and Dileep Rao. Oona Chaplin plays Varang, the leader of the Ash People. David Thewlis and Michelle Yeoh are also joining the cast.The official description of Fire and Ash reads, “Jake and Neytiri’s family grapples with grief after Neteyam’s death, encountering a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe, the Ash People, who are led by the fiery Varang, as the conflict on Pandora escalates and a new moral focus emerges.”‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is scheduled to hit theaters on December 19, 2025 — three years after Avatar: The Way of Water.
