WhileAvatar: Fire and Ashpromises to introduce more villainous, morally questionable Na’vi, Quaritch’sAvatarfranchise return means these can be RDA collaborators instead of a second set of unrelated villains. Far from growing tiresome fast, the simplicity of theAvatarfranchise’s storytelling is a major part of its appeal. In most blockbuster series, a straightforward story of good vs evil would need more nuance and complexity to keep viewers invested. However,theAvatarmoviesbenefit from subverting the usual dynamic seen in alien invasion movies. Here, humans are the invaders and the heroes are the alien natives.
Avatar 3 Can Pay Off The Original Movie’s Darkest Missing Scene After “Fire & Ash” Title Reveal
The news of Avatar 3: Fire and Ash’s title could allow the series to pay off Jake’s most important missing scene from the original 2009 movie.
This fresh perspective felt as original and clever by theend ofAvatar: The Way of Wateras it did back in 2009. Thus, the news thatAvatar 3’s storywas set to complicate the franchise’s morality wasn’t necessarily good for the future of the series. Since the franchise began, director James Cameron’s immersive sci-fi epic has been clear about whom the heroes were and who were the villains. Quaritch’s Marines, the RDA, and Pandora’s human colonizers more broadly were the aggressors and the native Na’vi were heroically defending their home. However, Cameron teasedAvatar: Fire and Ashchanging this.
Avatar 3’s Fire Na’vi Should Work With Quaritch
Avatar 3’s Best Na’vi Villains Would Be RDA Collaborators
In an interview with the French outlet20Minutes, Cameron mentioned that viewers would see the villainous side of the Na’vi inAvatar: Fire and Ash. This was reinforced by an early glimpse of concept art from the sequel, which depicts franchise villain Miles Quaritch being led into a Fire Na’vi clan’s camp with his hands tied behind his back. While he may initially be their prisoner,Quaritch could convince the Fire Na’vi to side with him and the RDAas he attempts to take over Pandora by force. This would be a clever twist for two reasons.
For one thing, the Na’vi are stronger than humans but would struggle to defeat one of their own clans. Although humanity’s superior technology makes it tough for the Na’vi to defeat them, their guerrilla warfare tactics have proven successful so far.TheAvatarfranchise’s most underrated villain, Edie Falco’s General Ardmore, is playing the long game by trusting that the Na’vi will eventually succumb to the pressure applied by Tulkun hunters, the RDA, and Quaritch’s Marines. Quaritch could accelerate this process by cannily pitting the Fire Na’vi against the Metkayina and the Omatikaya, exploiting their existing tribal divisions.
Avatar 3’s Fire Na’vi Risk Ruining The Franchise’s Original Appeal
Avatar’s Story of Resisting Human Invasion Is A Clever Sci-Fi Subversion
Another reason thatAvatar: Fire and Ash’s Fire Na’vi working with Quaritch makes sense is that it maintains the existing balance of the series.TheAvatarmovies risk forgettingtheir original story as the sequels reveal more villainous Na’vi and heroic humans, and the franchise could eventually become just another space opera with morally ambiguous characters on both sides of its conflict.TheAvatarmovies need the RDA to be their central, compelling antagonist, as this makes the stakes of Pandora’s colonization clear.
Quaritch convincing the clan to go to war with other Na’vi instead of the human invaders would prove just how clever the villain is.
Revealing that some Na’vi were always villains is less interesting than following the Fire Na’vi’s seduction by Quaritch. Quaritch convincing the clan to go to war with other Na’vi instead of the human invaders would prove just how clever the villain is and would underline how threatening the RDA are. After the events ofAvatarandThe Way of Water, even a character as stubborn as Quaritch can concede that the RDA’s current approach to colonizing Pandora hasn’t been working out for them. Taking an indirect approach by stoking tribal divisions is exactly the sort of move the pragmatic villain would make.
Avatar 3 Can Make The Fire Na’vi Part of The Human Threat
Establishing A Second Separate Set of Villains Would Be Unnecessarily Complicated
IfAvatar: Fire and Ashmade the Fire Na’vi a second, separate set of villains with their own distinct motivations who weren’t aligned with either the other Na’vi clans or the RDA, this would unnecessarily complicate a series that thrives on simplicity.TheAvatarmovies work thanks to their straightforward story, and nothing could keep this plot more streamlined than Quaritch enlisting the Fire Na’vi onto his side. This would also explain how Quaritch becomes a major villain again after his defeat inThe Way of Water.
It is hard to see how the protagonist of the series would be threatened by Quaritch afterThe Way of Water’s ending.
There is even a chance thatAvatar: Fire and Ashcould kill off Jakeat Quaritch’s hands if the villain amasses a powerful enough army from the Fire Na’vi. It is hard to see how the protagonist of the series would be threatened by Quaritch afterThe Way of Water’s ending, which saw Quaritch hurriedly escape after barely avoiding death at Jake’s hands. However,Avatar: Fire and Ash’s story could give Quaritch his most powerful ally yet if he can manipulate the Na’vi. Thus, theAvatarseries can maintain its existing storyline whileAvatar: Fire and Ashstill expands the franchise’s world.
Avatar: Fire and Ashis set to be released on July 17, 2025.
