Avatar: The Way of Water brings back some of the Na’vi we met in the first epic film by James Cameron, and also introduces us to some new blue faces. The long, long-awaited sequel returns audiences to the fantastic world of Pandora and the struggles between the Na’vi and the human colonizers with the raging feud now taking to the oceans.
Avatar: The Way of Water utilizes the most cutting-edge technology when it comes to motion capture and 3D rendering, allowing the Na’vi characters to resemble their human-actor counterparts. Of course, they are over nine feet tall, blue with enlarged eyes, flatter noses, and pointed ears, but nonetheless, the resemblances are there.
There are two different camps of Na’vi in this film. The first is the Omaticaya Na’vi which now includes Jake Sully, the protagonist of the first film as well as his and Neytiri’s children. They are acclimated to living in the forest, and have dark blue and pale blue skin. This is the clan we spent the most time with in Avatar.
We then have the Metkayina clan, a group of Na’vi who live by the sea and have more turquoise and blue skin, which appears to be better suited to camouflage in the tropical waters surrounding their home. They practice a form of tattooing as well, marking their skin with symbols that chronicle their lives and are unique to that individual.
Here is a list of all the major stars playing Na’vi in Avatar: The Way of Water.
The Omaticaya
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
Worthington is back as Jake Scully, the protagonist of the first film. At the end of Avatar, Jake chose to become permanently fixed in his Na’vi body which was made possible by the power of Eywa. Some time has passed since then and Jake serves as the chief of the Omaticaya clan. He has three biological children with his mate Neytiri as well as their adopted children Kiri and Spider. He leads his people in the attacks on the invading Resources Development Administration (RDA).
Worthington is an Australian actor also well known for his roles in Clash of the Titans, Terminator Salvation, and more recently Under the Banner of Heaven.
Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri
Saldaña also returns as Neytiri, the Na’vi who brought Jake to her people and taught him their ways, eventually falling in love with him and becoming his mate. She is en route to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become the spiritual leader of the Omaticaya clan. She is the biological mother of Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Tuktirey as well as the adoptive mother of Kiri and Spider, though unable to fully trust and connect with the latter based on his human origin.
Saldaña is an American actress well known for her role as Gamora in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as The Adam Project and more recently Amsterdam.
CCH Pounder as Mo’at
Another returnee is Pounder, who plays Mo’at, Neytiri’s mother and current spiritual leader, or tsahìk, of the Omaticaya clan. She was the one who insisted that Jake be accepted by the Na’vi after Eywa gave a sign. She is not as big a presence in this film as she was in the former.
Pounder is an American actress known for her roles in the TV series, Sons of Anarchy and Warehouse 13 as well as film roles such as Godzilla: King of Monsters.
Jamie Flatters as Neteyam
Flatters plays Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri’s oldest biological child at 15 years old. Neteyam wants nothing more than to follow in his father’s footsteps and as the oldest son of the chief, he is next in line for the position, only that is disrupted when the Sully family leaves the clan due to the threat from humans.
Flatters is a British actor known for the TV series The Forgotten Battle as well as for starring in the Netflix film The School for Good and Evil.
Britain Dalton as Lo’ak
Dalton plays the role of Neytiri and Jake’s second biological child, Lo’ak. Lo’ak is fourteen years old who struggles with living up to the other members of his family and sees himself as a disappointment. He is the only one of Jake’s biological children that has features that resemble an avatar body rather than a natural-born Na’vi, with faint eyebrows and five fingers rather than four.
Despite his first name Dalton is an American actor known for his role in the TV series Goliath, he also had a small role in Ready Player One.
Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey
Bliss plays the youngest of Jake and Neytiri’s biological children Tuktirey, or “Tuk” as she is nicknamed. She is seven years old and their only biological daughter. She is sweet and charming and curious about the world around her.
Bliss is an American actress and singer/songwriter known for appearing in the TV series The Really Loud House and Best Foot Forward.
Sigourney Weaver as Kiri
Weaver is back, though in a very different role. She plays the young Kiri, the offspring of Grace Augustine who was impregnated in her avatar body. The circumstances around her conception are curious. She displays unique skills and is able to even hear the heartbeat of the great Eywa, with abilities that rival even the spiritual leaders of the clans. CGI bridges the gap between Weaver’s own age and that of the 14-year-old Kiri. Like Lo’ak, she too has some avatar body features.
Weaver needs no introduction, known as the grand dame of sci-fi her most notable roles include the Alien and Ghostbusters franchise as well as dramas such as A Monster Calls and Gorillas in the Mist.
The Metkayina
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari
Curtis plays the leader, or Olo’eyktan, of the Metkayina clan, Tonowari. Despite the danger that comes with accepting the Sully family into their tribe he does so anyway. He is the mate of Ronal, whose input he greatly respects, and father to Ao’nung and Tsireya.
Curtis is a New Zealand actor and has had roles in notable films such as The Piano, Sunshine, and Training Day.
Kate Winslet as Ronal
Winslet takes on the role of Ronal, mate to the clan chief Tonowari. She is strong and capable, going into battle against the RDA despite being pregnant. She worries more than her husband, especially in regards to letting the Sully family join their clan, but she trusts her husband and supports him.
Winslet is an Oscar-winning British actress known for her role in Cameron’s other epic, Titanic, as well as The Reader and Revolutionary Road.
Filip Geljo as Ao’nung
Geljo is the son of Tonowari and Ronal, he is a hunter and free diver. He initially is not kind to the Sully children, especially Kiri whom he calls a freak. He bullies the Sully kids but eventually comes around to them and learns to respect them.
Geljo is a Canadian actor you may have seen in the children’s TV series The Odd Squad.
Bailey Bass as Tsireya
Bass portrays the youngest child of Tonowari and Ronal. She tutors the Sully children in the way of free diving and is a kind and open character with a passion for the sea.
Bass is an American actress who has been in the TV movie Gift of Murder as well as the series Interview with the Vampire.
Duane Evans Jr as Rotxo
Evans plays Roxco, a friend of Ao’nung who takes part in the teasing and bullying of the Sully kids. He does however soften somewhat more toward them and shows kindness
Evans is a New Zealand actor who has appeared in the series Sweet Tooth and The Legend of Baron T’oa.
Recombinant Avatars
As well as the Na’vi there are also the new Recombinant characters, human minds in avatar bodies that also play a significant role in the film. Similar to how Jake was a human whose mind was implanted into an avatar body whilst his body went into stasis. Recombinant characters are a little different as they do not have a living human body anymore and are merely the memories of a deceased soldier placed in an avatar body. In this manner, Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch and Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet are revived.
The above list includes all the major Na’vi players in the film, though of course there are other characters that appear, though in less significant roles. As the films go on, with a third and fourth already scheduled, we wonder who else will join the ranks as the indigenous Na’vi of Pandora fight against the colonizing humans.
