Avatar 3 will continue the story of the Na’vi locked in a war with humankind on Pandora, but it may also be the last chapter of Jake Sully’s journey if the clues are to be trusted. James Cameron’s incredibly successful Avatar franchise is set to release the third entry on December 19, 2025. Over the course of just two movies, Cameron’s Avatar franchise has already earned over $5.2 billion (via The Numbers), with both films climbing the all-time box office leaderboards and claiming the first and third rankings.
However, the third movie and future sequels are expected to take the story to new places and follow other characters, and Avatar 3 may be the movie that clears the way for this to happen. Jake Sully has been at the heart of the story, becoming familiar with Pandora and the Na’vi. After two movies and having raised a family of his own, the story is likely to focus on other characters. However, Jake can’t simply sit back and relax while the events unfold in future stories. Instead, it is more likely that his death will determine the franchise’s future.
8 Jake Sully And Neytiri’s Kids
Avatar 3 Will Make One Of Jake Sully’s Kids The Main Character
James Cameron has revealed that Avatar 3 will feature Lo’ak as the narrator for the story. After Lo’ak narrates Avatar 3, the narrator will change in each future installment. The Way of Water played a big role in introducing Jake’s children and establishing their importance in human-Na’vi relations as they contain DNA from both sides. In addition, the time-jump between the first and second movies left Jake with his people for many years, raising children and settling into that way of life. As he grows older, it makes sense to focus more on his children and the rising generation.
7 Time Is Passing Quickly In Avatar
Avatar 4’s Time Jump Moves The Franchise Closer To Jake Sully’s End
Between the first and second Avatar movies, there was a 14-year time jump. The second and third movies were shot together, to preserve the actor’s ages, and the fourth installment includes some footage recorded at the same time but will follow a story that is set six years later (via Variety). With time passing, Jake is getting older and will become increasingly frail. If he doesn’t meet his end in Avatar 3, his character could struggle to keep up with the others, and he would be forced to watch the war from the sidelines as his children fight without him.
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6 Completing Jake Sully’s Character Arc
Jake Sully’s Avatar 3 Death Would Pay Off His Character Arc
Jake began his life as a warrior, fighting in the military until his twin brother died suddenly, and he was called upon to replace him and operate his expensive, custom Na’vi body that was designed with his specific DNA. Through the Na’vi body, Jake regained the use of his legs and experienced rebirth as a member of the Na’vi tribe. Since that time, he has learned their ways and their beliefs around life, which could be leading to his death. The first two movies also feature two major character deaths, with Miles Quaritch in Avatar and Neteyam in the sequel.
5 Quaritch Died At The End Of Avatar
Now It’s Jake’s Turn
Considering these significant deaths in the first two Avatar movies, it makes sense that Jake is next to die in Avatar 3. Both Jake and Quaritch have a lot in common, and their connection is further strengthened in The Way of Water. They are both soldiers who tie that attribute to their identity. They were both reborn in Na’vi bodies and with the introduction of Spider, they share a son that is biologically Quaritch’s but being raised by Jake as one of his own. And, considering how death works on Pandora, it wouldn’t feel like the conclusive end for Jake.
4 Eywa The All-Mother
Jake Could Die, But His Spirit Would Live On
A prominent part of the first two movies was centered on the religion of the Na’vi and their relationship to the living planet and all life thereon. The Na’vi are all connected through Eywa, a life force that they can communicate with and feel thanks to special braids that they use to connect. This connection to the Great Spirit would mean that Jake’s death is not final, in the same way that a human dies and their consciousness disappears. His life and spirit would be able to reconnect with Eywa, as Grace Augustine was able to do.
3 Miles Quaritch’s Redemption
Jake’s Death Could Inspire Quaritch’s Redemption
With the new Quaritch, occupying a Na’vi clone body, and showing mercy toward Jake and his family, it appears that the man who was originally the biggest threat may be on a road to redemption. Quaritch has more ties to the Na’vi and Pandora than before thanks to his new body, and his son being raised with Jake. It appears that this budding sympathy could develop to see him switch sides and fight alongside the Na’vi. To motivate this change, it would make sense for Jake to die and serve as the final catalyst for Miles to switch sides.
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2 Kiri Is A Unique Na’vi
Kiri Is Being Set Up As Someone Special
Kiri is technically the biological daughter of Grace Augustine’s avatar body. The character is also voiced by Sigourney Weaver, which implies a stronger connection than simply being the daughter of her character. It is unclear how Kiri was born, as Grace’s Avatar didn’t show signs of pregnancy before, but her connection to Eywa as she died could have led to a miraculous birth. However she was born, Kiri is seen to have a strong connection with Eywa and seems to be different from other Na’vi and even the hybrid Na’vi born of Jake and Neytiri.
1 Jake Sully Served As A Surrogate For The Audience
Introducing Us To The World Of Pandora
Considering the focus is shifting to other characters in Avatar 3, Kiri is being set up for a special role, and Jake’s death would lead to a series of other major choices, it makes sense for Avatar 3 to retire him from the franchise. Originally, Jake served as a surrogate for the humans to enter the world of Pandora and learn about the Na’vi, and by extension, this also happened for the audience. Jake’s work is done, and the incredible alien planet is now much more familiar, so other characters can serve as the anchor for the audience, without keeping Jake alive.
Avatar 3
Avatar 3 is the third entry in James Cameron’s five-movie franchise set in the fictional world of Pandora. Following Jake Sully and Neytiri’s first encounter in 2009’s Avatar and Colonel Miles Quaritch’s retaliation in 2022’s The Way of Water, Avatar 3 sees the Na’vi heroes come across a fire Na’vi tribe known as the Ash People.
- Release Date
- December 19, 2025
- Director
- James Cameron
- Cast
- Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Sam Worthington , Stephen Lang
- Writers
- Josh Friedman , James Cameron
- Studio(s)
- 20th Century
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century
- prequel(s)
- Avatar , Avatar: The Way of Water
- Franchise(s)
- Avatar
