The New Avatar: Fire And Ash Trailer Plunges Pandora Into War

James Cameron’s wildly ambitious sci-fi epic gets even wilder.

While the first teaser for Avatar: Fire And Ash was big on vibes and gorgeous CGI vistas, it was pretty light on plot detail. This new look at the upcoming sci-fi sequel aims to correct that.

Avatar: Fire And Ash Trailer

What’s the plot?

As the official synopsis explains:

With Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family.

Which tells us very little. But looking at the trailer, a new clan of Na’vi, the Mangkwan or Ash People, team up with Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch to make life more difficult for the family Sully. Meanwhile, surfer bro-lookin’ foundling Spider (Jack Champion) is somehow adapting to life on Pandora, where the atmosphere is unbreathable for humans. Which sounds good, right? But as Jake (Sam Worthington) ruefully notes, if humans could breathe on Pandora, there’d be no getting rid of them. Which is an astute observation, but c’mon – he sorta found a work around, didn’t he?

Who’s in it?

The cast seems to have gotten a lot bigger when I wasn’t paying attention, so get ready for:

• Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a human turned Na’vi freedom fighter.
• Zoe Saldaña as alien baba and bad ass Neytiri.
• Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine, who Weaver played back in the first film.
• Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, formerly deceased, now in an Avatar body.
• Giovanni Ribisi as sleazy suit Parker Selfridge.
• Kate Winslet as Ronal, Metkayina and Tonowari’s wife.
• Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, chief of the Metkayina.
• Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, heroic dork.
• CCH Pounder as Mo’at, the Omatikaya’s priestess and Neytiri’s mother.
• Edie Falco as RDA bigwig General Frances Ardmore.
• Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby, whale hunter with what I’ll assume is an Ahab thing going now, seeing as he lost an arm in the last movie.
• Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, biologist and self-loathing drunk.
• Britain Dalton as Lo’ak, Jake and Neytiri’s son.
• Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey, Jake and Neytiri’s daughter.
• Jack Champion as Miles “Spider” Socorro, Quaritch’s son, Na’vi adoptee, and problematic dreadlock-haver.
• Bailey Bass as Tsireya, Ronal’s daughter and Lo’ak’s love interest.
• Filip Geljo as Ao’nung, Ronal’s son.
• Duane Evans, Jr. as Rotxo, Metkayina hunter.
• Dileep Rao as scientist Dr. Max Patel.
• Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, resurrected mercenary.
• David Thewlis as Peylak, a new Na’vi character.
• Oona Chaplin as Varang, the Na’vi leader of the volcano-dwelling Ash People.

When’s it out?

Avatar: Fire And Ash is in Australian cinemas from December 19 2025.

What’s the vibe?

There’s a theory doing the rounds that Avatar: The Way Of Water was essentially retelling the first the film, in deference to the fact that the first film was ages ago and audiences might be in need of a catch-up. With that in mind, Avatar: Fire And Ash seems to taking the narrative bit in its teeth and galloping forward like a dire horse, and it seems we’re going to see Pandora plunged into full scale war. We can’t wait. But we have to, so in the mean time, enjoy this poster: