Five and a half years ago, it was announced that Oona Chaplin – who is best known for playing Talisa Maegyr on Game of Thrones, and for being the granddaughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin – had been cast in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. And now, thanks to producer Jon Landau, we finally know who Chaplin will be playing. Last month, Cameron revealed that Avatar 3 will introduce a villainous tribe of Na’vi known as the Ash People, and speaking with Empire (with thanks to Variety for passing it along), Landau gave the information that Chaplin’s character is the leader of this “aggressive, volcanic race” known as the Ash People. Her character’s name is Varang.
Landau explained, “There are good humans and there are bad humans. It’s the same thing on the Na’vi side. Oftentimes, people don’t see themselves as bad. What is the root cause of how they evolve into what we perceive as bad? Maybe there are other factors there that we aren’t aware of.“
We’ve previously also learned that the character Lo’ak, the son of Jake Sully and Neytiri, will be taking over narrator duties on Avatar 3.
During his conversation with Empire, Landau went on to say that there will be “a big time jump” between the events of Avatar 3 and Avatar 4. It has been said that Avatar 5 will take some of the characters from Pandora to Earth, and Landau said the film will show us that “there’s over-population and a depletion of our natural resources that make life harder” on Earth. “But we don’t want to paint a bleak picture for where our world is going. The films are also about the idea that we can change course.“
Avatar 3 is set to reach theatres on December 20, 2024. Avatar 4 will follow on December 18, 2026, and Avatar 5 on December 22, 2028. Are you looking forward to these sequels? What do you think of Oona Chaplin playing the leader of a villainous tribe of Na’vi? Share your thoughts on this franchise by leaving a comment below. I haven’t watched Avatar: The Way of Water yet and haven’t seen Avatar since 2010, so I have some catching up to do.