‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ will hit theatres on December 19, and the trailer to James Cameron’s next installment in the alien world was shown to the press at Disney’s Los Angeles and New York offices on Monday, the New York Post reported, adding that it teased a new villain – Varang.
Who is Varang in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’?
Voiced by Oona Chaplin of ‘Game of Thrones’ fame, Varang was reportedly shown in a spiky red-and-black headdress.
She is believed to be the leader of the Mangkwan Clan, also known as Ash People. This is a race of Na’vi that live high up in the mountains, around volcanoes.
The publication reported that the trailer shows Varang walking through a hot, gray landscape that is lit by magma, and seems to wield a flamethrower.
She can be seen appearing to hold Jake and Neytiri’s daughter Kiri (played by Sigourney Weaver) hostage in the promo, hissing “Your goddess has no dominion here.” This is a reference to the special connection the girl has to Eywa, the spiritual being.
Varang’s claim suggests that either her people worship a different god or no god at all.
What Varang means for the new Avatar movie?
The character’s introduction marks a departure for the franchise that has thus far pitted humans against aliens. Now, it will be the Na’vi who are at each other’s throats.
Speaking to Empire, director Cameron explained, “Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship. She’s hardened by that,” adding, “She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil.”
The director further noted that they wanted to move beyond the simple paradigm of the Na’vi being good and humans being bad.
“One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic. We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm.”