Who Lives, Who Dies in Avatar: The Way of Water — And What It Means for Fire and Ash

James Cameron is heading back to Pandora with a third film that drops us right into the fallout from The Way of Water. It is set a year after Neteyam’s death, the Sullys are still living with the Metkayina, and just when things start to settle, a fire-wielding Na'vi clan called the Ash People shows up and sets everything off again. Expect shifting alliances, deeper losses, and a few characters stepping into new versions of themselves.

Where Fire and Ash picks up

The story begins one year after Neteyam is killed during the RDA’s assault. Jake and Neytiri are trying to rebuild with the Metkayina, but peace is short-lived. The Ash People arrive and spark a larger conflict that drags every major character back into danger. The ongoing human threat doesn’t go away either: the RDA is still in play, with their Tulkun-derived Amrita extraction effort continuing to poison Pandora’s future.

Quick franchise snapshot

For context: Cameron’s original Avatar (2009) came from Lightstorm Entertainment alongside Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners, pulled an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, and made about $2.9 billion. The Way of Water (2022) was a Lightstorm-only production, landed at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, and still hauled in around $2.3 billion. Avatar: Fire and Ash is set for 2025, also from Lightstorm. Reviews and box office, obviously, are TBD.

The characters: what The Way of Water changed, and what Fire and Ash is likely to do next

1. Neteyam — His death is the emotional pivot of The Way of Water. He dies helping Lo'ak and Spider escape during the Tulkun-hunting ship rescue, taking a fatal shot to the chest from RDA forces. The family gives him a sea burial, and Jake later revisits his memory through Eywa’s oceanic network. Without Neteyam, the Sullys lose their stabilizer, and the Metkayina grieve with them. In Fire and Ash, his absence motivates everything: Jake and Neytiri’s choices, Lo'ak’s growth, and the family’s refusal to run anymore. Neteyam isn’t on-screen, but his memory drives the story.
2. Jake Sully — By the end of Way of Water, Jake has stopped running. Losing Neteyam forces him to quit the hide-and-hope strategy. He accepts the Metkayina as his people, recommits to fighting, and reconnects with Lo'ak after his son drags him from drowning during the sinking-ship battle. In Fire and Ash, expect Jake to lead from the front: protecting his kids, standing with the Metkayina, and confronting the Ash People while keeping the RDA in his sights. This is the war-ready version of Jake who’s fighting not just to survive, but for Pandora’s future.
3. Neytiri — She goes through hell in Way of Water. Neteyam’s death unleashes a fury we haven’t seen from her, and in the chaos she and Tuk are trapped in the sinking ship until Kiri saves them. Going forward, grief and rage are going to power a lot of her choices. She’s more protective, more dangerous, and still deeply connected to Eywa. As the Ash People attack and the RDA’s Amrita extraction continues, Neytiri is positioned to be a fierce counterpunch to both threats.
4. Lo'ak — The so-called troublemaker grows up fast. His bond with Payakan, the outcast Tulkun, reveals a different kind of strength, and he proves it in the final battle when he saves Jake from drowning. Then comes the guilt: Neteyam dies saving Lo'ak and Spider, and that weighs on him. Fire and Ash likely pushes Lo'ak into the leadership space Neteyam left behind. Between his connection to Payakan and his need to make his family proud, he’s set for a bigger role against both the Ash People and the RDA.
5. Kiri — The franchise’s biggest mystery. Her connection to Eywa is strong enough to feel like a calling, and it comes with real power: she communicates with sea life and uses that bond to save Neytiri and Tuk in the wreck. But those seizures are a red flag that this gift has a cost. Theories range from Eywa’s chosen child to a deeper link to Grace’s essence. Cameron has clearly been teasing this, and Fire and Ash looks like the chapter that digs in. Don’t be shocked if Kiri is the one who understands the Ash People on a spiritual level and becomes crucial to the family’s survival.
6. Tuktirey 'Tuk' — The youngest Sully brings the heart, and she also stares down real danger when Quaritch’s forces kidnap her and she ends up trapped in the sinking ship. She keeps her head and trusts Kiri and Neytiri to pull her out, which they do. Come Fire and Ash, expect more bravery and awareness from Tuk. She’s still a kid, but she’s growing up in wartime. Would not be shocked if she flips the script and saves someone else this time. She basically stands in for the new generation of Na'vi coming of age in Pandora’s darkest hours.
7. Colonel Miles Quaritch — Now a Recombinant Na'vi, he gets the strength and speed he never had as a human, plus the identity crisis that comes with it. Jake chokes him out and leaves him to drown, and then Spider saves him. That one decision keeps Quaritch in the game for Fire and Ash and complicates him even more. With the Ash People entering the picture, he could escalate the chaos or cut uneasy deals. There’s even a sliver of a redemption possibility floating around (emphasis on unlikely), but the more realistic path is a more dangerous, more conflicted Quaritch making unpredictable calls.
8. Spider — Caught between two families. He grows up with the Na'vi and the Sully kids, but biologically he’s Quaritch’s son. Saving Quaritch from drowning is the choice that will haunt or define him (maybe both). He returns to the Sullys by the end of the 2022 film, yet those split loyalties are not going away. Fire and Ash likely tests him harder: with the Ash People attacking and Quaritch back in play, Spider could become either a bridge between humans and Na'vi or the fuse that sets off another explosion. Either way, his decisions ripple across Pandora.

The big swing this time

The Ash People are the wild card: a Na'vi clan that fights with fire and disrupts the balance the Metkayina just helped the Sullys find. Pair that with the RDA’s ongoing Amrita obsession, and you’ve got a sequel that is less hide-and-seek and more all-out escalation. Expect shifting alliances, heavier losses, and a few characters stepping into roles they didn’t ask for.

Release date

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on December 19, 2025.