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

Avatar 3 is finally heading to cinemas this year, introducing new and exciting characters and featuring a story that had James Cameron's wife sobbing uncontrollably for hours. It seems like emotions will be running high in the threequel, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, and we can't wait to see it.

Below, we've compiled a guide with everything you need to know about the Avatar 3 release date, confirmed cast, plot theories, first-look footage, and more details about the future of the sci-fi saga. This is one of 2025's most exciting upcoming movies, and every update we get about it confirms it even further.

It's been almost three years since Avatar: The Way of Water, which was as much of a box-office hit as the original movie. Now, we're travelling back to Pandora, reuniting with Jake, Neytiri, and the rest of the family for a new adventure. James Cameron has teased the introduction of a new clan, the Ash People (also known as the Mangkwan Clan), who have gone through a mysterious hardship and blur the lines of morality.

Cameron has also confirmed that Avatar 3 will be longer than its predecessors, so we're looking at a three-and-a-half hour epic that will open the way for the already confirmed sequels Avatar 4 and Avatar 5.

For now, we've got you covered with a complete guide to everything there is to know about Avatar: Fire and Ash, including the release date, what's been revealed about the plot so far, quotes from the team, and a list of confirmed cast members.

Avatar 3 release date

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.

Avatar 3 trailer: when will we get one?

With the movie still almost a year away, we're unlikely to get a trailer for Avatar 3 for some time yet. The first Way of Water teaser debuted in May 2022, so we can expect Avatar 3 to follow a similar timeline and drop a trailer sometime this spring.

Avatar 3 plot

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."

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.

Avatar 3 cast

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.