Avatar: Fire and Ash is one of the most anticipated movies of 2025, and various plot points have gradually come to light. For the first time in the franchise, this installment will feature a group of Na’vi that is adversarial to the other groups on Pandora. These are the Ash People, led by Oona Chaplin’s Varang.
Even without an Avatar 3 trailer available, there are a lot of theories surrounding the outcome of the movie. One leading theory is that James Cameron will choose to kill off Jake Sully, who has been the protagonist of the last two movies. The director has already hinted at some unexpected plot developments in the third film, fueling this theory.
Killing Jake Sully would colossally shift the relationship dynamics in the still-to-come Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, which are currently planned for 2029 and 2031 releases. Jake has built a family with his wife, Neytiri, and serves as the key access point for the audience to receive the story. While killing him off would change a lot, it would make several characters much more important.
5
Spider
Played By Jack Champion
Spider is one of the only human characters featured in Avatar: The Way of Water. He was left on Pandora years ago and raised by Jake and Neytiri alongside their three biological children and adopted daughter, Kiri. Towards the last third of The Way of Water, he is revealed to be Quaritch’s estranged son.
Jake and Neytiri’s biological children are Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Tuk.
Early press about Avatar 3 has already suggested an expanded role for Spider in this next installment. A first-look image showed Quaritch and Spider together, revealing their reunion. In an interview with Empire, Quaritch actor Stephen Lang also revealed that the two characters “reconnect out of necessity” and out of Quaritch’s desire for answers.
Spider and Quaritch are not physically together by the end of The Way of Water, so Fire and Ash will have to focus on Spider enough that the characters’ reunion makes sense. This greater emphasis on Spider would help facilitate a transition to his greater franchise importance.
Spider could also be more important because he is a likely candidate for the next human to be transformed into a Na’vi. Having him go through this metamorphosis would be a good way to honor Jake’s story even after his potential death.
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Ronal
Played By Kate Winslet
Ronal played a critical but supporting role in Avatar: The Way of Water. She has a queen-like responsibility as the tsahìk (aka spiritual leader) of the Metkayina clan. In the sequel film, Ronal helps Jake Sully and his family learn the way of, as the тιтle references, water, and the customs and practices of the Metkayina clan.
Ronal is one of the many underutilized female characters in Avatar: The Way of Water. As Cameron tries to reach the broadest possible audience with his internationally successful franchise, fully fleshing out more of the female characters may be the way to go.
It is also worth noting that Ronal is played by Kate Winslet, who is an Oscar winner and seven-time nominee. She also has a positive history with Cameron due to their collaboration on тιтanic. As such, it would make sense to give her a more prominent role in future movies.
Story-wise, Ronal’s likely importance will really depend on how much Avatar: Fire and Ash ends up focusing on the Metkayina clan. They were a major point of focus in the second film, but as Cameron explores the fiery side of Pandora, he may move away from the water territories.
Still, Ronal is closely connected enough with Jake and his group that her increased importance would be justified. Spirituality is also an important theme in the Avatar franchise, so Ronal’s connection with that side of things would serve the story well.
3
Quaritch
Played By Stephen Lang
Much like Jake himself, Quaritch is definitely not guaranteed to live through the events of the third movie. That said, he has proven himself to be one of the more indestructible characters in the franchise. Even when he died in human form in 2009’s Avatar, he made it to the second film by having his consciousness and memories backed up and transferred to a Na’vi body.
Quaritch is an interesting character in that he represents a manipulation of the same technology that Jake ends up using for good. Quaritch and Jake transition to their Na’vi counterparts in different ways, and with vastly different levels of respect for their Pandoran surroundings. Even as a Na’vi, Quaritch speaks to human nature and its fundamental flaws.
Quaritch’s reunion with Spider also indicates that the character could have a redemption arc in Avatar 3. He is definitely a hard character to redeem, given the atrocities he has enacted or helped commit, but if given enough time, this could be a powerful shift.
It is also possible that Quaritch will need more than one more film to be fully forgiven for his past actions. However, this actually means that the character would need more screen time. This would certainly increase the character’s importance within the Avatar franchise.
2
Lo’ak
Played By Britain Dalton
After Neteyam tragically dies in Avatar: The Way of Water, Lo’ak is the oldest surviving child of Jake and Neytiri. This puts a lot of pressure on him to carry on the Sully legacy, especially if his father ends up pᴀssing away in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Lo’ak is already a vital character in the Avatar franchise as it stands. He goes through significant character growth within The Way of Water, laying the groundwork for even more self-improvement and rising to importance in the upcoming movies.
The Water of Water established one of the franchise’s emerging themes: family. This was not something explored as much in the first movie, given Jake and Neytiri were just then falling in love, but it is something that the remaining Avatar films are sure to explore in more depth.
For this reason, focusing further on Lo’ak would really bring out themes that are already central to the fabric of the Avatar franchise. There is expected to be a time jump between the third and fourth movies, which would also allow audiences to grow up with Lo’ak in a way they will not be able to do in Avatar 3 alone.
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Neytiri
Played By Zoe Saldaña
The most apt character to take over for Jake Sully post-mortem is his beloved wife, Neytiri. Unlike some of the other characters, she is a throughline from the original 2009 movie, and thus has years of history behind her. She understands the importance of Eywa, as well as Pandora’s history, and would make a compelling lead.
Making Neytiri into the Avatar movies’ lead, or at least a more important figure, could be an interesting way to put a twist on the ideas presented by the franchise so far.
Neytiri is already important to the franchise, but her role would be even more vital if Jake ended up dying. Her arc was not as heavily focused on in The Way of Water as it could be, leaving a lot of room for her to grow in the future of the franchise.
Making Neytiri into the Avatar movies’ lead, or at least a more important figure, could be an interesting way to put a twist on the ideas presented by the franchise so far. Jake was originally a human, thus accessing the world of Pandora as an outsider initially. Neytiri is native to Pandora, offering a unique perspective.
Even if Neytiri was not the main hero of Avatar 4 or Avatar 5, she would certainly be more important in the wake of Jake’s death. She would undoubtedly have opinions about Lo’ak or any of her other children’s participation in events, as well as the actions of Quaritch and his followers.
Neytiri is at the heart of the Avatar franchise, and should be highlighted even if Jake survives the events of Avatar: Fire and Ash. She is played by powerhouse (and recently Oscar-winning) actor Zoe Saldaña, who is likely to keep delivering great performances in what has become the most iconic role of her career.
