James Cameron has confirmed that a new character from the Wind tribe inAvatar: Fire & Ashwill be key for the next three sequels. There has been a plethora of news following the release ofAvatar: Fire & Ash’smovie trailer, which reveals new story details about the latest installment, including a new ally in the Pandora world, the Wind Traders.
ViaEmpire, James Cameron has confirmed that the Wind clan may be more important, saying,“They’re going to be throughout the cycle of 3, 4 and 5” as the director is playing “a long game.”He adds, “[It was] the same thing with Kate’s character and Cliff Curtis' characters [Ronal and Tonowari] in the last film.”
Cameron also details more about the Wind Traders, explaining how “they’re still 100% Na’vi but they’re not place-specific,”making them different from previous clans inAvatar. Interestingly, Cameron citesThe Godfatheras inspiration for its “epic, novelistic journey,” expressing the importance of “procedural detail” in world-building, with the director promising that, “You’re gonna wait for it, but it’s satisfying.”
Empirealso dropped an exclusive look at a new character inAvatar: Fire & Ash, Peylak (David Thewlis), the sky captain of the Wind Traders. The character was previously unveiled in concept art in February 2025, but was notably absent from the recent trailer. That being said, both the Wind Traders and Peylak will have big roles in upcoming movies.
What This Means For The Avatar Franchise
Avatar: Fire & Ash Will Introduce New Key Characters
The Wind Traders are not the only tribe to be introduced in the upcoming movie, asAvatar: Fire & Ashwill feature an Ash Clanled by Varang (Oona Chaplin). The introduction of these two tribes is interesting as it meanstheAvatarfranchise is rather rapidly expanding.Furthermore, it seems some of these characters will be here in the long run.
Compared toAvatar’soriginal 2009 movie, which only briefly touched on thevarious Clans native to Pandora, in the lead-up to the battle against the Sky People,The Way of Waterintroduced a new world full of characters.Some of these characters will become key in future installments, like Ronal and Tonowari, as Cameron stated.
Avatarcould be seeing a move away from the Sully family in future films, as these new characters make way for new stories in the franchise.
However,Avatar: Fire & Ashwill go one step further than previous films by introducing two major Clans at once, which means there will be a larger number of new characters. As a result,Avatarcould be moving away from the Sully familyin future films, as these new characters make way for new stories in the franchise.
Our Take On The Wind Tribe’s Role In Avatar
Cameron’s Tease Has Us Questioning Their Significance
Cameron’s admission that the Wind Tribe has a much more significant role infutureAvatarmoviesis rather intriguing. So far, audiences have seen a few tribes on Pandora, including the recent Metkayina Clan inWay Of Water. However,none seem as important as the new Wind Traders, who Cameron claims will stick around for at least three movies.
There will be speculation aboutwhat the Wind Traders’ role will be, especially with Cameron saying the wait will be “satisfying.”Interestingly, it does bring to question whether someone like Peylak could potentially take the reins on the franchise, asAvatar: Fire & Ashcould be gearing up for apotential Jake Sully replacement in futureAvatarfilms.
