Avatar: Fire & Ashcould finally see the deaths of several important characters in the franchise, but the first trailer isn’t teasing the death that has been at the forefront of speculation. After a whopping 13-year wait between the firstAvatarmovie andAvatar: The Way of Water, the series is heating up with the hotly anticipatedAvatar: Fire & Ash.
Slated to release on June 20, 2025, the much-awaited conclusion to the initialAvatartrilogy has finally given audiences a first look with an initial teaser trailer. Thetrailer forAvatar: Fire & Ashhints at some important developments, namely, the deaths of several well-known named characters whom audiences have grown to love.
Considering the sheer spectacle and scope of theAvatarmovies,it’s a surprise that the franchise has not indulged in more deaths than it has. In the first movie, the sympathetic pilot Trudy Chacón and Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Grace Augustine are the only heroic human characters to meet their demise, with the latter’s fate remaining ambiguous withGrace’s connection to Kiri.
The Na’vi Eytukan and Tsu’tey are both also killed by the RDA inAvatar. Avatar: The Way of Waterhas onlya single named character perish, Jake’s son Neteyam. While scores of unnamed RDA marines and Na’vi are killed in combat in the film, the series may be on the verge of terminating major protagonists at last.
Avatar: Fire & Ash’s Trailer Makes It Look Like Neytiri & Spider May Die
Though Their Actual Likelihood Of Death Is Questionable
Avatar: Fire & Ashcould be threatening to kill off some incredibly important charactersif the first released trailer is anything to go by. Not only does it appear that this climactic finale to the first trio ofAvatarfilms might kill off some beloved named roles, but some of the most recognizable, core protagonists may be on the chopping block.
In the trailer,Zoe Saldaña’s Neytirican be seen screaming in anguish while lying on a hospital bed, clearly being treated for some kind of injury or illness. It could be that she comes across the former in one of the many fearsome battle scenes she’s shown to participate in, which always present an ambient danger that could finally end her story.
Another character shown to be in mortal peril in the latest trailer is Spider. The abandoned human son of the original Miles Quaritch, Spider grows up raised by the Na’vi, becoming a young man before ever meeting the Na’vi clone of his biological father. Naturally, the new Quaritch takes an interest in the boy.
Because he’s a human living on Pandora,Spider needs to constantly wear a gas mask that filters out the toxic gases composing Pandora’s atmosphere. In the trailer, a shot of Spider stumbling in the forest can be seen as the mask seemingly fails him, causing him to collapse.
It’s even possible that Spider doesn’t remain human as the film continues.
However, later shots revealSpider running around with no maskin the Pandoran wilds, suggesting that he may be changing his physiology to adapt over time. It’s even possible that Spider doesn’t remain human as the film continues, considering how much the series likes to play with the idea of Na’vi becoming human and vice versa.
That being said,Spider isn’t necessarily safe even if he no longer needs his mask. Another shot sees him slowly slipping off of a perilous rock during a tense action sequence, and Spider was nearly killed by Neytiri inAvatar: The Way of Wateras a means of getting back at the new Quaritch. His life is by no means guaranteed by his possible change.
Jake Sully’s Death Still Seems The Most Likely In Avatar: Fire & Ash
It May Be Time For The Series' Protagonist To Pass The Torch
No matter how much the trailer may tease the deaths of Neytiri and Spider, the one character who seems most likely to die inAvatar: Fire & Ashremains Jake Sully himself. The main protagonist of the series and viewpoint character of the first film, Jake’s journey has been a long and arduous one, filled with several close calls.
Jake’s death may make the most sense from a thematic standpoint, as it seems the trailers are positioning him as advocating for Neytiri to stop living in hatred, despite all her losses. This would set the stage for Jake to pass the torch toNeytiri as the newAvatarprotagonistin all future films beyond the initial trilogy.
In the trailer, Jake sees his fair share of intense action scenes, leaping between floating rocks to duel Quaritch again and engaging the Banshees of the new Mangkwan Na’vi clan in the sky. There’s also a small shot of him seemingly captured by the RDA and paraded as a trophy through a dense crowd of human onlookers.
Whether Jake is slain in combat or executed after being captured, his arc is mostly complete already. He seems the most likely named character to die because of how such an event could develop the other Na’vi. He might even sacrifice himself to save Spider, which would provide a fitting conclusion toAvatar: Fire & Ash.
So, while Neytiri and Spider are the ones in danger in the trailer, Jake’s fate is still the one to watch closely.
