Jake Sully Shockingly Embraces War in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ After Neteyam’s Death, Says Sam Worthington
Jake Sully has already been through a lot in the Avatar movies, and things aren’t getting any easier in the next chapter. In Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron is pushing his main character into even deeper emotional waters.
The new film picks up just two weeks after the events of The Way of Water, and Jake is still reeling from the death of his eldest son, Neteyam.
Sam Worthington returns as Jake, who is no longer the peacemaker we saw in the previous film.
According to Empire, who visited the set for an exclusive look at the movie, Jake is now in full grief mode. “The peacemaker that Jake was in 2 has changed, because he’s grieving,” Worthington says. “He doesn’t know how to go forward, and so he goes back to the world that he knows, which is soldiering. To attack, to go to war, that’s a comforting place for Jake.”
Director James Cameron explains that the emotional state of the characters will be a big part of this movie. “Everybody in this movie is reacting from a place of trauma,” he says. “Jake’s processing the death of his son. Lo’ak is processing the death of his brother and his own guilt around that.”
That emotional pain is also tearing apart the relationship between Jake and Neytiri. Worthington explains that Neteyam’s death drives a wedge between them. “Jake and Neytiri share this painful wound, but they can’t seem to heal each other,” he says. “So they kind of split, not because they want to, but because they’re just trying to survive within themselves. Jake heads back to battle and Neytiri kind of closes down.”
The grief from the last film’s ending is still very present. If you remember, Neteyam died while trying to save his siblings during the final battle. Jake and Neytiri were both devastated, and it looks like they’re carrying that pain into this new chapter.
Cameron says that even though the movie has huge visual effects and wild sci-fi creatures, it still stays grounded through its emotional core. “I think if you’re authentic about life and emotion and relationships, it doesn’t matter how crazy your world-building is,” he says. “I’m on a flying fish — but I believe that flying fish.”
As the story continues, tensions will rise. With the loss of Neteyam, Jake turns back to his old instincts as a soldier, and the appearance of a new Na’vi villain named Varang is only going to make things worse.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is setting up to be another intense ride through Pandora, filled with grief, action, and major emotional fallout.
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