Sam Worthington Teases Heartbreak And Division In “Avatar: Fire And Ash”

The world of Pandora might look like paradise, but Avatar: Fire and Ash is about to show us just how broken things really are. Sam Worthington, who returns as Jake Sully in the third installment of James Cameron’s epic saga, recently revealed that the upcoming film will dive into deep emotional pain and possibly tear apart one of the franchise’s strongest bonds.

“Jake and Neytiri share this painful wound,” Sam told Empire Magazine, talking about how the characters both lost their eldest son, Neteyam.

“They can’t seem to heal each other,” he added.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, set to hit theaters on December 19, picks up just two weeks after the heartbreaking ending of The Way of Water. Fans may remember the gut-wrenching moment when Neteyam died, a loss that now sends ripples through the Sully family and all of Pandora.

Sam explained that Jake and Neytiri 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… 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,”  he added.

Neytiri, on the other hand, shuts down. They’re grieving in opposite directions.”

Director James Cameron, 70, says the new movie is all about navigating trauma and not just for Jake and Neytiri.

“Everyone in this film is reacting from a place of trauma,” Cameron said. According to the director, even Lo’ak, Neteyam’s brother, is trying to figure out who he is after the tragedy.”

But at the heart of it all is one burning question: Can love survive war and grief? Cameron calls the emotional rift between Jake and Neytiri a bold narrative choice. “That’s a great design by [Cameron] – how do you split apart the perfect love story?” Sam added. 

It is not just the world-building or the visual effects that Cameron hopes will leave an impact. Speaking at Disney’s D23 expo in August 2024, he shared his personal litmus test for success: “If I can’t cry in the movie, I know I’ve failed seriously.”

With the return of key cast members like Zoe Saldaña (Neytiri), Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, and Stephen Lang, plus new faces like Oona Chaplin and Bailey Bass, Fire and Ash promises to raise the emotional stakes higher than ever before.

The countdown to December 19 is on. Until then, fans can stream both Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water on Disney+.