James Cameron says he's included a scene in Avatar: Fire and Ash that he was originally "saving" for "a later film": "F*ck that! He should get the bird"

James Cameron has revealed that he has included a scene in Avatar: Fire and Ash that he was originally holding back for a later movie in the sci-fi series.

Fire and Ash is the third of five planned films, with Avatar 5 not expected until 2031. It follows on from 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water.

"The good news is I don't really second guess my creative impulses. Unless, and this happened a little bit on Fire and Ash, I'm looking at it going, you know, I'm not that much of a genius screenwriter," Cameron told Variety. "There's something a little off here in the storytelling. And so, our Toruk is back [in Fire and Ash], right? You know, the big bird that Jake rides [in the climax of the first Avatar]. 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," Cameron continued. "I was like, 'Fuck that! He should get the bird. Get the Toruk.' There's something in Jake's destiny that requires it, right? So I just re-wrote it, and we went back and we shot two or three scenes around that concept, and I threw some stuff out and stuck that in. And we're at three hours, big surprise! But it works beautifully, and the actors were super-excited about that idea. It's like, oh, okay, that feels right, you know?"

While Cameron is busy with the Avatar series, he also has an adaptation of Charles R. Pellegrino's book Ghosts of Hiroshima in the works. "To me, this might be the most challenging film I ever make," the director said recently of the project. "I don't 100% have my strategy fully in place for how I want to see it; how I want to shield people from the horror but still be honest; how I can find some kind of poetry, beauty, or spiritual epiphany in it somehow – which I know must be there. It's there in every human story."

Avatar: Fire and Ash releases this December 19. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the most exciting upcoming movies of the year to fill out your watchlist.