Avatar: Fire and Ash
gets a new piece of concept art previewing Lo’ak and Payakan’s lasting bond. Serving as the follow-up to 2022’s smash hit, Avatar: The Way of Water, the third installment in James Cameron’s Avatar franchise will follow Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of the Sully family as their journey on Pandora continues. The Avatar: Fire and Ash cast is set to feature a mix of new and returning characters as the saga expands, with Payakan, the whale-like tulkun creature introduced in the most recent movie, previously confirmed to return.
Empire now shares a new piece of Avatar: Fire and Ash concept art, showing Lo’ak, played in the films by Britain Dalton, riding atop Payakan as the mᴀssive creature cuts through the waves. The image, which teases a sunset setting, also includes some bird-like Pandoran animals flying overhead. Check it out below:
In addition to the concept art, VFX supervisor Richard Baneham teases some of what audiences can expect from Payakan moving forward:
“He’s turned out to be one of the most popular characters. The reaction emboldened us to go forward and play Payakan at the very highest level.”
Though Payakan and Lo’ak will remain “forever bonded,” Fire and Ash will introduce a female tulkun friend for Payakan named Ta’nok, who Baneham calls “another outcast.” Ta’nok remains shrouded in mystery, but Baneham says, “There’s a really great dynamic between them.” The film will also delve further into the tulkun’s societal structure, with Matriarch and Patriarch set to be introduced as clan leaders. As Baneham explains:
“Matriarch is a very interesting character. She’s in full regalia. We’re using rings and tattoos as a way to suggest [history] beyond what we’re seeing.”
What This Means For Avatar: Fire & Ash
Payakan Became A Crucial Sully Family Ally
In addition to the Metkayina clan, Payakan ended up being one of the most important new characters introduced in Avatar: The Way of Water. The creature bonds with Lo’ak, with both feeling like outcasts from their respective communities. In addition to serving as a friend for Lo’ak, Payakan also ends up playing a crucial role in the Avatar: The Way of Water ending, helping the Sully family and the Metkayina during the movie’s final battle by not only severing Scoresby’s (Brendan Cowell) arm with a cable, but by launching himself onto the SeaDragon ship.
Avatar: Fire and Ash‘s climactic battle has been teased to be one of the franchise’s most epic action sequences yet, with combat playing out across land, sea, and air, and Payakan could certainly return to play an important role in this. The next film will introduce a new watercraft called a Factory Ship, however, which makes a SeaDragon look small by comparison, meaning even Payakan may not be able to do much damage against it.
To accompany this even more epic final battle, Cameron has confirmed that Avatar: Fire and Ash‘s runtime will be slightly longer than The Way of Water, which was three hours and 12 minutes.
The next movie is expected to widen the world of Pandora by introducing the antagonistic Ash People clan, led by Oona Chaplin’s Varang, in addition to the air-bound Wind Traders, led by David Thewlis’ Peylak. Baneham’s comments confirm that, despite the widening of the world and potentially some traveling by the Sully family, the tulkun and the water setting will still play important roles.
Our Take On The Avatar: Fire & Ash Concept Art
Avatar 3 Will Continue An Important Franchise Tradition
One of the reasons why the Avatar movies have been so popular is their exploration of Pandora and all of its otherworldly-yet-familiar flora and fauna. There’s plenty of action, of course, but Cameron also slows down at points to show off scenes of natural beauty, hammering home the idea that Pandora’s natural wonders, like Earth’s, are worth fighting for. Payakan played a crucial role in this regard in the previous film, and his return in Avatar: Fire and Ash is certainly a welcome one.
Source: Empire
