Avatar: Fire and Ash producer seems to hint at unlikely alliance between Jake Sully and Quaritch, as Oona Chaplin's more villainous Varang takes on the Na'vi: "It's not as clear cut and dry for him"

Avatar: Fire and Ash is right around the corner, and it sounds like it's going to be on an even bigger scale than The Way of Water – and it might even feature an unlikely alliance.

"Quaritch has this hatred against Jake, but he's found it's not as clear cut and dry for him to just blow them all out of the water," producer Jamie Landau told SFX magazine. "Making this alliance with the Ash People really steps up the stakes. We've seen Jake go against RDA forces, but they're humans mostly, with mass weaponry. But what happens when somebody who knows [Na'vi] fighting tactics is now given the weapons of humans? The level of action that we're able to see in this one is quite a step up from The Way Of Water, which was already spectacular action."

The new movie introduces us to the fearsome Ash People, a fire clan led by Oona Chaplin's menacing Varang. "[Oona] was able to come in with some of our movement experts and learn some Na'vi basics," Landau said. "But then she took her own spin on it, and we all followed suit. You don't really see this in other clans, but all of the Ash People tend to try to stay below her eye level and look up to her. Zoe [Saldaña] – who really set the standard for the movement of the Omatikaya people, as she was our lead and was cast first on the first movie – really leads with her heart. With Varang, Oona's choice was that she leads right from her pelvis. It's a strong choice, and she's just mesmerizing to watch."

This isn't the first time a possible redemption has been hinted at for Quaritch, either. "I don't want to tell you where it goes, but we're gonna see all this play out, because Jake would rather have this guy on side," James Cameron has previously teased. "It's very uninteresting to just have two guys trying to kill each other for three movies, so it gets much snakier. Quaritch's soul is very much in play in movie three."

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of this year and beyond for everything else that's in store.