When it comes to movies, what gets put to paper and what actually makes it on screen can be totally different things. For example, when the original script for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” leaked, some fans felt it was better than the actual movie. However, sometimes changes can be necessary, like the fact that two different Marvel stars almost played Jake Sully in “Avatar.” Even more drastically, for “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the entire ending needed redone during post-production.
Sitting down for an interview with The National, director James Cameron revealed that the original ending for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” was completely reworked to be something that Cameron felt was more appropriate for the series. With “Fire and Ash” having hit theaters December 19, fans won’t see what happened in the original ending, but we can help give you an idea of Cameron’s original plan.
We did our best to avoid spoilers, but considering this involves an ending, keep this spoiler warning in mind. At the time of this writing, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” holds a 67% Tomatometer score and a 91% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, and movie critics all seem to be complaining about the same thing. The ending isn’t necessarily part of those complaints, though, which suggests Cameron might have made the right call.
Why James Cameron changed the ending
In an interview with The National, director James Cameron -– who once worked his magic on a Kurt Russell sci-fi movie –- revealed that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” originally had an entirely different ending, causing the director to reshoot several scenes. Originally, Cameron intended for the film to have Na’vi leader and ex-marine Jake Sully unite all of the clans within Pandora by arming them with automatic weapons. However, the director revealed that while he was editing, he began to realize that the original ending had far too many ties to American colonialism –- a period where early immigrants and settlers heavily displaced individuals native to the lands.
Speaking with the outlet, Cameron states, “At a certain point, it just hit me – [the film’s ending] maps to colonial history. Arming the tribes and pitting them against each other is actually the wrong thing.” He continues, “That was part of the North American genocide of indigenous people. I can’t have Jake doing the same thing.” Reworking the ending to better align with the film’s anti-colonialist ethos wasn’t easy, as it required removing other material in the film along with bringing back the original actors for reshoots.
Fortunately for Cameron, the actors were more than happy to rework the ending. Sam Worthington, who plays Jake Sully, explained to The National that “Avatar” reshoots are nothing new. “I’d get a call saying, ‘hey man, can you come in? I want to try something out.’ [Cameron] never really stops painting. You never really leave ‘Avatar.'” You can currently catch “Avatar: Fire and Ash” in theaters.
