One Avatar: Fire And Ash Character Is An Franchise Gamechanger (And It's Not Who You Expect)
by Bill Bria · /FilmSpoilers for "Avatar: Fire and Ash" follow.
In the original "Avatar," the character of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) meets all the requirements of a Joseph Campbell-style mythical hero. It's his actions that set the revolutions within the narrative in motion, just as it is primarily his presence and influence which cause the status quo of all the characters in the film to be changed by the end. As such, going into the sequels "Avatar: The Way of Water" and now "Fire and Ash," one might reasonably assume that Jake would continue to be the story's biggest prime mover. After all, this is true of the "Star Wars" trilogy and Luke Skywalker, or the "Lord of the Rings" saga and the Hobbits, and so on. Yet Jake, despite very much being a major part of both sequels, takes a back seat when it comes to being an agent of change for the story's path. Even the most prominent villain, the Marine colonel-turned-resurrected Na'vi Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), isn't quite the lynchpin of the narrative.
There are two characters in particular who appear to promise a great deal for the future of the planet Pandora and the "Avatar" films, and they are Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Miles "Spider" Socorro (Jack Champion). While Kiri, with her immaculate conception origin and her connection to Pandora and Eywa is still a huge factor in the way the series is expanding and developing, the franchise gamechanger in "Fire and Ash" is Spider. He exists at the epicenter of just about every concern and conflict in the film, making him the most valuable person in it (literally and figuratively). What's more, it's Spider who may hold the key to the future of "Avatar."
Spider's journey mirrors and parallels Jake's (and other famous characters)
In "Avatar," Jake took the technology of making a recombinant Na'vi avatar body one step further, by fully joining The People in both body and soul by the end. In other words, he not only switches sides, but species, transcending his old human existence and bringing it in as part of his new Na'vi identity. James Cameron, famous for pulling a reversal on a concept (especially in a sequel), has made Spider into a parallel figure of Jake. Instead of switching bodies completely, "Fire and Ash" sees Kiri bring a Pandoran fungus into the boy's body, one which transforms his biology so that he's able to breathe the air, which is normally toxic to humans. This act also parallels Quaritch's journey, too, as Spider, like his biological father, has been resurrected as well as physically altered.
That alteration doesn't stop with his ability to breathe, either, as Kiri and Spider excitedly discover that the latter has grown a queue, the tendrils within the hair of the Na'vi which allow them to communicate with Pandora and its creatures. All this means that Spider, who was already adopted into the Sully family, is now officially a human-Na'vi hybrid, similar to an avatar but distinct. This makes Spider even more of a Paul Atreides-type character than Jake was, as a character literally as well as figuratively adapting to their new environment is so central to "Dune." His relationship to his overbearing, militaristic father and deciding to not follow in his footsteps is also very Luke Skywalker, too. Based on these similarities alone, it seems obvious that Spider will be incredibly important in the future.
The implications of Spider's development hints at where 'Avatar' might be going
Of course, the larger implications of Spider's transformation are part of the text of "Fire and Ash," as Jake and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) correctly assume that the encroaching RDA invasion of Pandora will seek to reverse engineer Spider's fungus, the better to allow humans to take over the planet. The threat this poses to Pandora and the Na'vi is so great that Jake almost murders the boy over it, and even though Jake ends up refusing to go through with it, Spider initially comes to accept this fate. All of this makes Spider double down on supporting his chosen family. In fact, not only does Spider end up being able to join with the Pandoran neural network, he also is accepted as one of The People. Spider's commitment to the Na'vi goes beyond just platonic love, too, as a kiss he shares with Kiri implies the two may be romantically interested in each other, which also takes the star-crossed lovers/interspecies relationship theme of the films another step beyond.
Now that Spider's allegiance and place in The People have been solidified by the close of "Fire and Ash," the possibilities for future "Avatar" films are pretty expansive. It's entirely likely that we may see Spider and Kiri becoming the ultimate Na'vi/human power couple, surpassing Jake and Neytiri and eclipsing their dark mirror in Quaritch and Varang (Oona Chaplin). While the "Avatar" films have had a theme of conservationism since the start, it seems that the endgame of the series may not involve completely repelling the humans from Pandora, but rather finding a way to integrate them peacefully instead. We can only guess at this point, but based on how far "Fire and Ash" pushes forward its themes and concepts with Spider at the forefront, we can feel assured that the next "Avatar" movies may be even wilder and weirder.