Avatar 3 release date, cast, story, and everything else you need to know

Avatar: The Way of Water
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Avatar 3 is coming to a big screen near you in only a matter of months, but there's still plenty of time to get up to speed on James Cameron's highly anticipated threequel.

Officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, the follow-up to 2022's The Way of Water introduces a dangerous new Na'vi clan that poses a threat to Jake and Neytiri's family. Round three isn't the end of the road for the franchise, either: two more movies are in the works, and Cameron has revealed he's even thinking of expanding the franchise with an animated anthology series.

In the meantime, though, we've compiled everything you need to know about one of the most exciting upcoming movies still to come in 2025, from the Avatar 3 release date to a cast list, trailer breakdown, and more.

Avatar 3 release date

Avatar: The Way of Water

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

The Avatar 3 release date is December 19, 2025.

That's three years after Avatar: The Way of Water, and 16 years after the first Avatar. The threequel has been delayed nine times total, pushed back 10 years from its original 2015 release date.

Before the third movie arrives in cinemas, Avatar: The Way of Water is re-releasing on the big screen from October 3, 2025, for one week only.

Avatar 3 trailer

Avatar: Fire and Ash | New Trailer - YouTube Avatar: Fire and Ash | New Trailer - YouTube
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With the movie only a few months away, we finally got an Avatar: Fire and Ash first trailer on July 28, and it was as spectacular as we were expecting. The footage played exclusively before Fantastic Four screenings during the Marvel film's release weekend, but it was released only a few days later. You can watch it above.

In the trailer, we reunite with Jake and Neytiri's family, which seems more fractured than ever. Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are dealing with grief, but they will have to deal with planet-changing problems in Pandora. The images offer a glimpse into an incoming Na'vi war, where the "Ash People," a fire-based Na'vi clan also known as the Mangkwan Clan, will be key.

A second trailer, released in September (and which you can watch above), gives us a better insight into the tragic history of the Ash People and their disillusionment with the deity Eywa, as well as showing Pandora ablaze as Jake and Neytiri prepare for battle.

Avatar 3 plot

Avatar: The Way of Water

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

So far, not much is known about the Avatar 3 plot just yet. The main thing we know is that we're going to be introduced to the Ash People, AKA the Mangkwan Clan. They're led by Varang, played by Oona Chaplin. "Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She's hardened by that," director James Cameron told Empire magazine. "She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil."

"One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic," he added. "We're trying to evolve beyond the 'all humans are bad, all Na'vi are good' paradigm."

As for what that hardship might be, production designer Dylan Cole has dropped some hints. "[The Mangkwan] had a natural disaster befall them, and that sort of helped shape their culture," he told Empire. "So much of the world of Pandora is rich and vibrant and full of life – this is just the exact opposite. They used to live not too dissimilarly to the Omatikaya from Avatar 1." You can see the first look at the Mangkwan's Ash Village below.

The Mangkwan were originally going to be introduced in Avatar: The Way of Water, but they ultimately decided to leave it for the threequel.

"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.'," Cameron told Empire.

Cameron also teased that the movie will go to some unexpected places. "We're just starting to riff on it and twist it and turn it," he told Empire. "It's a tricky thing. We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it goes, 'Fuck, that's not what I signed up for.' But if you're not making brave choices, you're wasting everybody’s time and money. That alone is not sufficient to create success, but it's necessary. You've got to break the mold every fricking time."

A first look at Neytiri has also been unveiled by Empire magazine, with Cameron calling Zoe Saldaña "incandescent."

We can also expect the return of a familiar face (or should we say 'beak') from the first Avatar movie, as Jake is set to tap into his Toruk-riding abilities again. "Our Toruk is back [in Fire and Ash], right? You know, the big bird that Jake rides [in the climax of the first Avatar]," Cameron said. "I've always been waiting for the question, 'Why doesn't he just go get the big red bird and kill everybody like he used to do?' Because that doesn't exist in The Way of Water at all. I got a big scoop here. It didn't exist in Fire and Ash. And I went, 'Oh, he's got to go get the bird.' Come on! I was saving it for a later film. I was like, 'Fuck that! He should get the bird. Get the Toruk.'"

One thing it seems is for certain is that the movie won't contain any generative AI. An attendee at a Q&A event with Cameron in New Zealand shared the following on Twitter: "James Cameron revealed that Avatar: Fire and Ash will begin with a title card after the 20th Century and Lightstorm logos that 'no generative AI was used in the making of this movie'."

We also know that the length will be akin to The Way of Water, since Cameron has teased that the runtimes will be similar, but Avatar 3 is set to be a little bit longer. That means the threequel could be over three hours and 12 minutes long, though nothing has been confirmed just yet.

First reactions to the movie have been extremely positive, too, according to the director. "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," he told Stuff NZ. Plus, Disney CEO Bob Iger has called an early cut "absolutely breathtaking."

Avatar 3 cast

Avatar: The Way of Water

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

The Avatar 3 cast is a mix of returning actors and newcomers:

  • Sam Worthington – Jake Sully
  • Zoe Saldaña – Neytiri
  • Sigourney Weaver – Kiri
  • Britain Dalton – Lo'ak
  • Trinity Jo-Li Bliss – Tuktirey
  • Jack Champion – Spider
  • Kate Winslet – Ronal
  • Cliff Curtis – Tonowari
  • Bailey Bass – Tsireya
  • Filip Geljo – Ao'nung
  • Duane Evans Jr. – Rotxo
  • CCH Pounder – Mo'at
  • David Thewlis – Peylak
  • Oona Chaplin – Varang
  • Joel David Moore – Dr. Norm Spellman
  • Stephen Lang – Colonel Miles Quaritch
  • Giovanni Ribisi – Parker Selfridge
  • Edie Falco – General Frances Ardmore
  • Brendan Cowell – Captain Mick Scoresby
  • Jemaine Clement – Dr. Ian Garvin
  • Dileep Rao – Dr. Max Patel
  • Matt Gerald – Corporal Lyle Wainfleet

That's a wrap on Avatar 3. For more, check out our guide to this year's major upcoming movie release dates to fill out your watchlist.

Molly Edwards
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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