How AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH Was Born From THE WAY OF WATER’s Overflowing Story Ideas
James Cameron’s vision for the Avatar sequels was always massive, but even he didn’t anticipate just how much story his writers’ room would come up with.
Originally, the plan was to follow up the 2009 blockbuster with three sequels, but once they started breaking down The Way of Water, they realized they had more material than they could handle. Instead of cramming it all into one film, Cameron made the call to expand.
Cameron explains to Empire: “In a nutshell, we had too many great ideas packed into act one of movie 2. The [film] was moving like a bullet train, and we weren’t drilling down enough on character. So I said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to split it.’”
That decision led to Avatar: Fire and Ash, and while The Way Of Water was already an epic follow-up, Cameron teases that the next installment will be even bigger, saying: “Movie 3 will actually be a little bit longer than movie 2.”
This all took shape in an extensive writers’ room that included Cameron, The Way Of Water co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, as well as Josh Friedman (who’s leading Avatar 4) and Shane Salerno (Avatar 5).
Silver talked about the creative process, saying: “It was spectacular. You’re talking about a character deeply for days and days, and all of a sudden there they are.”
When explaining the decision to separate the films it’s explained that it allowed for richer storytelling: “The characters needed to breathe. These movies are a lot more than just propulsive plot and gorgeous spectacle. I mean, these are real characters.”
Cameron went on to talk about the how personal experiences shared the characters in the films: “These characters are amalgams of us, our childhoods, our role as parents, the mistakes we made, and probably to some extent continue to make as parents. I mean, Jake is a hard-ass motherfucker. He’s very hard on his kids. Well, that’s me.”
Jaffa talked about how he found elements of his own life in Jake’s son, Lo’ak: “A good friend of mine who saw Way Of Water—a woman I grew up with—wrote to me after she’d seen it, and said that the relationship between Lo’ak and Neteyam reminded her of the relationship I had with my older brother.”
Cameron previously talked about screening the film, saying: “I've shown it to a few selected people and the feedback has been it's definitely the most emotional and maybe the best of the three so far.”
"We'll find out, you know, but I feel pretty good about it, and the work is exceptional from the actors. It's pretty heart-wrenching in a good way.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash lands in theaters on December 19, 2025.