Before the release of Avatar: The Way of Water in December 2022, director James Cameron had largely finished work on the third film in the series. He told Entertainment Weekly that he filmed parts of the third and fourth movies early to avoid the “Stranger Things effect,” where child actors significantly change in appearance between films.
Cameron noted how the actors in Stranger Things appeared much older than their characters’ ages. He used The Way of Water star Jack Champion, who plays Spider, as an example, mentioning that they filmed with him over an 18-month period as he grew from 14 to nearly 16.
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In August 2024, at the D23 Expo, Cameron announced that the third film is titled Avatar: Fire and Ash. He described it as a visually spectacular adventure with high emotional stakes. Disney has scheduled the film for a theatrical release on December 19, 2025, with a hectic two-year post-production period leading up to it.
