Avatar 3’s Barren ‘Ash Village’ Is ‘The Exact Opposite’ Of The Pandora You Know – First Look

When you think of Pandora, the lush moon of the Avatar movies, you probably picture pure blue skies. Verdant tropical jungles. Bioluminescent wonders. Crystal clear waters. And so far, this is the Pandora that James Cameron has introduced us to – one so enticing, fans went into meltdown when the first film arrived because they were so desperate to go there. But not every part of Pandora is so idyllic. In Avatar: Fire And Ash, we’ll be introduced to the Ash Village, the home of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash Clan), where all that abundant colour is nowhere to be seen. Just take a look at the exclusive concept art above, as seen in the new issue of Empire.

As production designer Dylan Cole explains, it’s a stark contrast from the world we know so far – and yet, in true Avatar style, still depicts a symbiosis between the land and its people. “[The Mangkwan] had a natural disaster befall them, and that sort of helped shaped their culture,” he says.  “So much of the world of Pandora is rich and vibrant and full of life — this is just the exact opposite.” It wasn’t always that way though – the centre of their village used to be a gigantic hometree, now standing just as charred remains. “They used to live not too dissimilarly to the Omatikaya from Avatar 1,” Cole teases.

Between the Ash Village – ruled over by Oona Chaplin’s fearsome Varang and her flying Nightwraith, seen above (“We jokingly call her Ashley,” teases Cole of the winged creature) – and the skybound lifestyle of the Wind Traders, there’s plenty more of Pandora for audiences to visit. “Each new film gives us a chance to open up a door that was closed before and go, ‘Check this out’,” says fellow production designer Ben Procter. Buckle up for the next interstellar journey.

Read much more about Avatar: Fire And Ash in Empire’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning issue, on sale Thursday 13 February. Order a copy online here. The Path To Pandora continues every month in Empire – subscribe here to get the magazine every month and hear the latest Na’vi news. Avatar: Fire And Ash comes to UK cinemas from 19 December.