Meet Avatar 3’s New ‘Ash Clan’: ‘They’ve Gone Through An Incredible Hardship’, Says James Cameron

 

From Empire Magazine we got a sneak peak at an upcoming interview with James Cameron. Empire also announced each issue for the rest of the year will have whats called "The Path to Pandora." So we will be getting more Avatar articles with every Empire issue in 2025.

We also got two new concept art photos, one showing off Varang and her clan the Mangkwan, and another showing the Windtraders Clan means of travel.

 The article goes on to talk about meeting the Ash Clan (Mangkwan) and how things will be different this time than they were with the Metkayina. This isn't going to be a friendly relationship. 

“We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm.”

“Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She's hardened by that,” Cameron tells Empire of that central figure. “She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil,” he teases. “One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic.” For once, it might not just be the human-led RDA bringing the ruckus. “We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm,” Cameron explains. Varang is played by Oona Chaplin, whose embodiment of her, Cameron says, “is so good that I didn’t quite appreciate how good her performance is until we got the Wētā animation back.” Don’t expect many ‘I see you’s between her and Jake. “She’s an enemy, an adversarial character,” notes Cameron, “but [Chaplin] makes her feel so real and alive.”

 

James goes on to describe the Windtraders Clan as nomadic traders, and likens them to the camel caravans of the Spice Road in Medieval times. They take to the skies to travel and James says if you have any nautical blood in your veins you'll want to be on their ship.

The full interview launches tomorrow in the following issue of Empire, find it at your local Book shop, or pick it up digitally.

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