I’ll admit that I was blown away when I saw the first Avatar movie in 2009. It wasn’t just one of the few movies that actually justified the wearing of those goofy 3D glasses; it also looked visually spectacular, and hasn’t aged a day since its premiere. That said, for all the effort James Cameron put into Avatar, the story did just feel like a shameless Pocahontas retread – only on an alien moon. It still found it to be a worthwhile endeavor, though. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it was mainly a visual spectacle rather than anything else.
Fast-forward 16 years, and I don’t really feel like the two sequels we’ve had further the Avatar franchise all that much. The worldbuilding is first-class at times, but the narratives haven’t become any more or less compelling. I know it’s a multi-billion-dollar saga, but I just never really hear the Avatar movies talked about between release windows. The sequels keep coming, though, with the next one set for a 2029 premiere. A notable change to the Avatar formula has been announced for the upcoming visit to Pandora, but I’m not convinced it will be enough.
Will Kiri Taking Over as ‘Avatar 4’s Narrator Really Offer Anything New?
The first two Avatar movies focused almost entirely on the point of view of Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully. Although a little unremarkable as a protagonist, the fact that Jake is a human in Na’vi form makes him suitable to be the eyes and ears of the audience. 2025’s Avatar: Fire & Ash promised a shift from Jake’s perspective over to his son, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton). I don’t know if I was watching a different movie, but Jake still felt pretty central to me. Lo’ak did have a slightly expanded role, but it didn’t feel like the big change that had been suggested in the lead-up to Fire & Ash‘s premiere.
So, although it’s been announced that Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) will take center stage in 2029’s Avatar 4, I struggle to believe the movie will be all that different from the first three. Sure, we’ll probably get more insight into Kiri’s way of thinking as her “chosen one” arc progresses, but she’s still going to be in the middle of the ever-waging war on Pandora. While it’s possible that James Cameron and company will dial up the spirituality for Kiri’s time in the spotlight, that could ultimately mean bypassing the big fight scenes that have come to mark the grand finales of the Avatar movies. As such, I’d be very surprised if the script didn’t try to keep one eye on what Kiri is up to while the same old conflict still takes up a lot of the screen time.
‘Avatar: Fire & Ash’ Already Wasted Kiri’s Biggest Moment
On paper, Kiri is one of the franchise’s most interesting Avatar characters. Her mysterious, fatherless lineage as the biological daughter of Grace’s (also Weaver) unconscious Na’vi Avatar positions her as an almost deity-like figure in the franchise canon. This has largely been treated as an unimportant subplot, though. Speaking with exiled alien whales is apparently way higher on the list of priorities. Just as the movies start to touch on Kiri’s origin and what it means for her future, they pull away and move on to something way less interesting.
Then, just as Fire & Ash is drawing to a close, Kiri manages to come face-to-face with Eywa. As the closest thing Avatar has to a canonical god (or goddess), Eywa’s apparent bond with Kiri is huge, not only for the larger storyline, but for Kiri’s personal arc. Therefore, if this was part of the franchise’s roadmap – which it definitely felt like – it would surely have made far more sense for it to take place in a movie where Kiri had a more prominent role. With the moment happening in Fire & Ash, I have to assume that James Cameron has an even bigger twist in mind for Kiri in the next installment. I guess we’ll need to wait and to see if the next Avatar movie can make Kirk’s enhanced role seem purposeful, or if it’s just a hollow attempt to create the illusion of freshness.
