James Cameron Confirms the Skynet Allegory — The Terminator Blueprint Behind Avatar

Avatar fans have been debating Eywa for years: is she a vibe, a religion, or something much more literal running under Pandora's skin? With Avatar: Fire and Ash back in the conversation, that debate just got louder. And yes, James Cameron has heard the chatter about Eywa being his Pandora-flavored Skynet. He weighed in.

Eywa vs. Skynet: Cameron weighs in

Talking to Slash Film, Cameron said he sees why people make the comparison, but he draws a hard line between a doomsday AI built by humans and a living planetary network that evolved on its own. He frames Eywa as a biological system that behaves a lot like a computer network without being a machine.

"She is basically a network in the mycelium of the forest. Each tree is essentially a neuron, and some perform input/output duties like the Tree of Souls and the Spirit Tree underwater... Some are just storage, some are processing. And then the mycelium is kind of the network, or what I call the Eywa-net. It is a global supercomputer. Not an artificial intelligence, but probably analogous in a lot of functionality to a computer network."

Why the Skynet comparison keeps coming up

On the surface, both Eywa and Skynet are planet-scale networks with agency. They process information, make decisions, and flex serious power. If you are the Ash People in Fire and Ash, who push back on Eywa's role as protector, or if you are the Sky People on the wrong end of Pandora's rage, Eywa can look like an all-powerful force that picks winners and losers. That is the overlap.

The split: Skynet was designed for war, becomes self-aware, and decides humans need to go, launching a nuclear apocalypse. Eywa emerged from Pandora's ecosystem. She stores memories, links life, and acts to protect balance when the planet is threatened. Not a weapon, not a tyrant—more like a living memory-core and defense reflex.

So... does Fire and Ash finally show Eywa?

From the beginning, the Na'vi treat Eywa as real while humans scoff. The films keep dropping receipts: prayers answered, the natural world joining battles, Pandora itself behaving like a single organism. The Way of Water doubles down through Kiri—born from Grace Augustine's avatar body—who can feel Eywa in a way no one else does.

Fire and Ash pushes it further. Kiri makes direct contact with Eywa via the underwater spirit tree, and for the first time the audience gets a brief, literal look at her. Eywa appears in a Na'vi-like form—same general hair and facial structure—but she is taller than Kiri and Spider, glowing and pearly white, more ethereal than physical. It is a quick glimpse, but the intent is clear: she is not just belief; she is the living heart of Pandora.

The basics (as listed by the source)

• Title: Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Director: James Cameron
• Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore
• Runtime: 3h 17m
• Rotten Tomatoes score: 67% (so far)
• Release date: December 19, 2025

One odd wrinkle

The source claims the movie is running in theaters worldwide right now and also lists a Rotten Tomatoes score—while also saying the release date is December 19, 2025. Those things do not all fit together, so treat the score and runtime as provisional until the studio and the trades line everything up.

However you slice it, Cameron's take is pretty straightforward: Eywa is a planet-spanning, naturally evolved network that behaves like a computer but is not an AI out to erase anyone. If you saw Fire and Ash, did you catch that blink-and-you-miss-it Eywa appearance? I am curious what you think it means for where this saga is headed.