The villains in the first two Avatar movies are the opportunistic humans, who arrive on Pandora to mine unobtainium with no regard for the ecosystem. Unlike Avatar‘s Colonel Miles Quaritch, whose motivation seems to be pure greed, the new villains in Avatar: Fire and Ash will be more complex. James Cameron told Empire. This is a new concept for the Avatar franchise and may see the Na’vi making an unlikely alliance.

Cameron: “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.”

The concept art for Avatar: Fire and Ash shows Quaritch being led into the home village of the fire Na’vi, though whether he is a prisoner or the clan is just taking precautions is currently unknown. Quaritch has a long-standing and bitter history with Jake Sully and his family, so if the fire Na’vi have the same enemy, this could set up an interesting partnership. Avatar‘s potential Quaritch and fire Na’vi alliance could give Quaritch’s character some more depth, which would build on the introduction of his relationship with Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water.

What Avatar 3’s Na’vi Villains Mean For The James Cameron Sequel

The Conflict Between Avatar 3’s Na’vi Clans May Be Complicated

Introducing the antagonistic fire Na’vi shows that James Cameron appears to have heard and addressed the criticism leveled at the earlier Avatar movies, and that Avatar: Fire and Ash will build on the success of the previous sequel. As Avatar: The Way of Water was a critical and commercial success, this is exciting news. One of the most compelling things about the Avatar movies is the insight into the creatures and Na’vi clans of Pandora, so including a very different kind of Na’vi shows that there is much more of James Cameron’s world left to explore.

The conflict between the fire Na’vi and the other populations on Pandora will likely be complicated, which would continue Cameron’s approach in adding more nuance to the antagonists. While the humans’ pursuit of unobtainium caused a natural conflict, there are many more reasons for a bad relationship between Na’vi clans. James Cameron has not yet confirmed why the fire Na’vi and its leader, Varang, are villains. Still, he has hinted that there is more to the story, telling Empire, “Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship.”

Avatar 3’s New Villains Fix An Old Complaint About The Franchise

The Ash Clan’s Leader Is Confirmed To Be A Central Character In The Avatar Franchise

The Avatar movies contain violence, danger, and even genocide, giving them a PG13 certificate in the US. As they are marketed to a slightly older audience, it made little sense for the antagonists to be one-dimensional, like the villains in many children’s movies. Portraying all members of a group as good is also an approach more suited to a children’s film. However, this lack of depth was a main criticism of the first two Avatar movies. If each sequel is to get better, now is the time to fix Avatar‘s 19-year trend of making the Na’vi good by default.

The conflict between the fire Na’vi and the other groups is very unlikely to be resolved within the space of one movie. The Ash clan’s villainous leader, Varang, will be played by Oona Chaplin, and she is confirmed to be a central character in the next Avatar sequels, starting with Fire and Ash. With James Cameron taking a more complex and nuanced approach to the Avatar antagonists, it is almost certain that the upcoming battles will more closely reflect real life. This means that Varang and her people may be a threat for years to come.