Credit: 20th Century Studios
Ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron revealed the scene from The Way of Water that he dreaded filming.
What Avatar scene did James Cameron dread filming?
While promoting Avatar 3, Cameron spoke about a crucial scene from The Way of Water. During the fight between the Na’Vi and RDA, Neteyam, the son of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), died after saving his siblings. Filming this emotional death is a moment that still sticks with Cameron.
“My mind goes to the day that we shot Neteyam’s death, because I know everybody was kind of dreading that,” Cameron told GamesRadar+. “Because I’m a parent. I was a parent when I wrote those scenes, and it’s the most inconceivable thing. You guys [Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña] had become parents in the meantime, between the first and second film. And, of course, that’s the event that powers so much of what happens in Fire and Ash, the ash of grief, as Lo’ak says, as the new storyteller, taking the baton from Jake.”
Neteyam’s death will continue to have a significant impact on Jake and Neytiri in Fire and Ash.
“That event, now you have to play through the aftermath of that in Fire and Ash,” Cameron said. “And what that means to your characters, to the other kids who were there, who witnessed it, or living with the aftermath of it.”
According to Cameron, Avatar: Fire and Ash is an emotional story about grief, loss, and trauma.
“It’s a movie about how you heal, and how you go forward, and how you pick up your pack and you march on, and how you break the cycle of violence that is created by the hatred that comes from that loss,” Cameron added. “And we’re seeing that playing out in the world today.”
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Jake Sully, Neytiri, and their family face a new enemy: the Mangkwan clan. Also known as the Ash People, the Mangkwan leader is Varang (Oona Chaplin), an aggressive Na’vi who aligns with Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to take on the Sullys in a battle for Pandora.
Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19, 2025.
