James Cameron’s Avatar franchise has grown into one of the most financially successful cinematic sagas of all time, currently grossing over $5.6 billion worldwide with the recent release of Avatar: Fire & Ash. However, future sequels are not yet guaranteed.
Interestingly enough, there are many ways in which Avatar: Fire & Ash does feel like a solid culmination for the franchise, while also being a dynamic launch point for even greater stories to come. With that in mind, here’s how the new Avatar could be a good ending for James Cameron’s saga, but also why that would be such a waste.
If Avatar: Fire and Ash Is The End Of James Cameron’s Sci-Fi Epic, It’s Not A Bad Ending
As a potential trilogy/franchise capper, Avatar: Fire & Ash works far better than some might expect. To provide a few key examples, Jake Sully finally returns to the mantle of Toruk Makto, a powerful full-circle moment that sees him taking the fight to the RDA once more for the sake of his family.
Likewise, we see Neytiri struggling with her grief and finally letting go of her hate towards humans, while Kiri uncovers more about her unique origins, tapping into her power through Eywa like never before.
Spider’s journey is also quite satisfying, thanks to his surprise biological evolution, and he’s eventually fully accepted into Na’vi culture to the point where he’s even welcomed into the spirit world by the movie’s end.
Lo’ak’s arc is also solid, processing the death of his brother in 2023’s The Way of Water as he learns to become his own man, finally earning his father’s respect and pride along the way.
Even Col. Quaritch receives a dynamic full-circle arc in Fire & Ash, as his story is very much a dark mirror to Jake’s in the first Avatar movie, integrating with his own Na’vi clan via The Ash People (even if it’s still to the benefit of the RDA).
That said, we also get to see more of Quaritich’s inner conflict as he struggles between the dead man whose memories he holds and the being he is in the present.
As such, so much of what we see in Fire & Ash perfectly culminates much of what we’ve seen across the entire franchise thus far.
There’s Only A Few Loose Threads By The End of Fire & Ash
Despite all these elements of solid closure, Avatar: Fire & Ash still leaves some loose threads dangling. One of the biggest is obviously Kiri’s ultimate destiny as Eywa’s “Chosen One”. After all, her power had only begun to fully manifest by the end of Fire & Ash, and its ultimate purpose remains unclear.
The RDA conflict on Pandora is also far from resolved. While individual victories have been achieved, humanity’s attempts to exploit Pandora will no doubt continue. Likewise, teases pointed to the greater involvement of the RDA President, a character we’ve yet to meet in the Avatar franchise thus far.
Varang’s survival and escape from the final battle also suggest that the Mangkwan clan will remain a looming threat. Although the dark leader of The Ash People was driven off by Kiri’s power from Eywa, we don’t know what happened to her in the battle’s aftermath.
The same goes for Quaritch and his own ambiguous fate, having fallen by the movie’s end while still leaving fans unsure if he was alive or dead.
Even with these hanging threads, viewers would still have more closure than confusion if the Avatar franchise ended with Fire & Ash. That said, our fingers are very much crossed that this won’t be the end of James Cameron’s epic sci-fi saga on the big screen.
Not Having Avatar 4 & 5 Would Still Be A Major Waste of Story Potential
Ending the Avatar saga with Fire & Ash would be a massive loss of narrative potential, as James Cameron has clearly planted seeds meant to grow far beyond this third chapter of the franchise.
Kiri’s role as a possible savior figure feels incomplete. Likewise, her connection to Eywa hints at power that could transcend Pandora itself, especially given long-standing rumors about a future return to Earth in the fourth and fifth Avatar movies.
Quaritch’s unresolved arc arguably deserves some proper closure as well. Whether he becomes a tragic convert, a final antagonist, or something in between, his story mirrors the franchise’s central conflict too closely to abandon.
Thankfully, Cameron has stated that the story will be finished one way or another, even if that means turning his scripts into books or even just holding a press conference to let us all know what happens. Still, the Avatar franchise belongs on the biggest screens possible and deserves to have its full story told as originally intended.
While there are some great conclusions for various character arcs, Avatar: Fire & Ash proves Cameron still knows exactly where he’s going with a vision that is not yet complete. The real question now is whether he’ll be able to finish the journey the right way going forward.
James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire & Ash is now playing in theaters.
- Release Date
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December 19, 2025
- Runtime
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197 Minutes
- Writers
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Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa, James Cameron, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno
- Producers
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Jon Landau, James Cameron, Brigitte Yorke, Jamie Landau, Maria Battle-Campbell
