In Avatar: The Way of Water, we were introduced to Jake Sully and Neytiri's children. However, tragedy struck when their oldest child, Neteyam, was killed while battling the RDA.
That will put the franchise's leads on a revenge mission, and filmmaker James Cameron has previously suggested their quest is what eventually brings Neytiri to Earth (a plot development we expect to see play out in the planned fourth instalment). What of the other kids, though?
Britain Dalton, who plays Lo'ak, recently spoke to Empire and revealed where we find his middle sibling when Avatar: Fire and Ash begins. "[Lo'ak] was born to be a leader. But he’s never been given the trust," he teased. "When Neteyam dies...that’s no way that he ever imagined being finally able to be seen. He blames himself."
Tuk actor Trinity Bliss added, "I don’t think she’ll ever be the same. It’s the first time she’s experienced a death in her life. She’s still her small and mighty self, and maybe she’ll move up the Sully ranks."
Spider, meanwhile, is the human son of RDA villain Quaritch and Jake and Neytiri's adopted child. However, his father has returned from the dead in an Avatar body and seems somewhat capable of redemption.
"He feels very conflicted," Jack Champion said of Spider's mindset. "His 'dad' is reborn into this Na’vi form and still as evil as ever, if not more so, and he still felt he had to save him. You see that guilt play out, and the evolution of Spider trying to figure out where he belongs."
The expectation is that the kids will eventually become the Avatar franchise's leads. It sounds like they'll each go through a lot in the wake of Neteyam's death, setting the stage for the fourth and fifth movies Cameron has planned (he's suggested we could get Avatar 6 and 7, but admitted he likely won't direct them).
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jake and Neytiri will encounter the "Ash People," a new clan of Na'vi, though few concrete plot details have been revealed about what to expect beyond that.
The movie was shot back-to-back with 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water. Cameron originally planned for them to be one movie, but soon realised there was too much material and expanded the story across parts two and three (a fourth instalment is also in development).
Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones) plays the leader of the Ash People, Varang. David Thewlis and Michelle Yeoh are also joining the cast alongside returning stars Sam Worthington, Zeo Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, and Dileep Rao.
Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver wrote Avatar: Fire and Ash. The movie will be released in theaters on December 19.