Avatar: Fire and Ash is trying to subvert our expectations. Not only does it mark a major departure where its villains are concerned — focusing on an “adversarial” Na’vi clan rather than greedy humans — but it’s also turning our attention to a new realm on Pandora. The third film in the Avatar saga will bring Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family to the Ash Village, home to the Mangkwan Clan. Also known as the Ash People, their life on Pandora is a far cry from the Omatikaya and Metkayina clans introduced in the first two films.
Production designer Dylan Cole detailed the differences between the Ash Village and other realms of Pandora in a conversation with Empire, saying, “So much of the world of Pandora is rich and vibrant and full of life — this is just the exact opposite.”
Avatar and Way of Water painted the moon as a lush tropical paradise, where each Na’vi tribe lives in symbiotic harmony with their surroundings. Fire and Ash will show us the other side of that. The Ash People “used to live not too dissimilarly to the Omatikaya from Avatar,” Cole said. Like the other clans we’ve met, the center of their village held a massive hometree, but a natural catastrophe swept through and left nothing but a charred husk behind.
Empire unveiled new concept art from Fire and Ash, giving us our first look at the film’s desolate setting. The Ash People have been “hardened” by their misfortune, but the crisis that destroyed their home also “sort of helped shape their culture,” Cole said. We’ll likely see that personified in Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of the Ash People.
Per Cameron, Varang will do “anything” for her tribe, “even things that we would consider to be evil.” There’s no telling how far she’ll go to protect her clan in Fire and Ash, as much of the plot remains a mystery, but Cole and his co-production designer, Ben Procter, are excited to introduce a new corner of Pandora.
“Each new film gives us a chance to open up a door that was closed before and go, ‘Check this out’,” Procter told Empire. True to form, Fire and Ash will explore much more than just the Ash Village and its people. The film will also introduce the Wind Traders, an “upbeat, happy, colorful” Na’vi clan who traverse the skies on jellyfish-like beasts. It’ll be intriguing to see how everyone collides in the Avatar threequel, and how the Sully clan fits into this new world.
