Varang emerges as Avatar's most three-dimensional character

Movieweb reports that Avatar: Fire and Ash introduces Varang, the Mangkwan (Ash People) matriarch who is being presented as the franchise's most three-dimensional character to date. Varang is a volcano-dwelling Na'vi leader known for her aggressive nature; she first appears when Sully and Neytiri's ship is ambushed, plundered, and set ablaze.

The film shows her capturing Na'vi children, forming a romantic alliance with Quaritch, learning to use guns and flamethrowers, and agreeing to mount an offensive against the Metkayina to rescue Sully. Those elements—her hardened protectiveness, willingness to sacrifice, and morally ambiguous actions—are cited as what makes her more three-dimensional, and James Cameron told Empire: "Varang is the leader of a people who have gone through an incredible hardship.

She's hardened by that. She will do anything for them, even things that we would consider to be evil. One thing we wanted to do in this film is not be black-and-white simplistic. Or blue-and-pink simplistic...We’re trying to evolve beyond the ‘all humans are bad, all Na’vi are good’ paradigm." At the end of Fire and Ash Varang viciously attacks Neytiri and is fended off by Kiri, is captured and later set free during an attempt to rescue Spider from a falling floating rock, and becomes enraged when Eywa revives Spider after her people rescue an outsider.

Key Topics

Culture, Varang, Mangkwan, Na'vi, James Cameron, Quaritch