Team FC
The former American Marine was the protagonist of Avatar (2009) and he holds on to that role in Avatar: The Way of Water. Fourteen years later, he’s an honorary Na’vi as well as a husband and father.
Colonel Miles Quaritch was very definitively dead at the end of Avatar, but thanks to the wonders of medical technology, his consciousness is fed into a Na’vi avatar. Quaritch remains a classic villain as he tears through Pandora and her people in his hunt for Jake Sully.
The Na’vi princess has a lot less to do in Avatar: The Way of Water, which focuses on Jake and their children. She remains a formidable hunter and although she remains at Jake’s side throughout the sequel, she strongly disagrees with the way he’s tackling the problem of being Quaritch’s target.
One of the joys of having computer-generated characters is that we get to hear Sigourney Weaver’s voice acting as the teenaged Kiri. No one knows how Dr. Grace Augustine became pregnant — and we’re convinced that there’s something just a little bit creepy about her avatar just floating around in its humongous canister — but Kiri is Grace’s miracle baby.
Jake and Neytiri’s eldest son is pretty much the perfect son. He’s a good warrior, he’s a better brother and he seems to be a natural leader. In one of his first scenes, you see Neytiri as a boy, going fishing with his father and the memory of that scene is used to excellent effect towards the end of the film.
He’s the problem child of the Sully brood and the teenage rebel. Curious, brave and independent-spirited, Lo’ak is a middle child who wants to be noticed by his father. From early on, we see him disobeying his father’s orders and getting scolded for doing so.
She’s the youngest of the Sully kids. Looking out for Tuk is a full-time job because the little Na’vi is energetic, curious and swears by the family motto of “Sullys stick together”. Tuk lives up to the stereotype of the youngest kid who has very little to do beyond looking cute and unwittingly causing trouble. However, since director James Cameron does have three more films planned, chances are she’ll be playing a bigger role as Tuk grows up.
Spider was a human child who remained with the select group of humans who were allowed to remain on Pandora at the end of Avatar. He speaks Na’vi fluently, knows the traditional ways and has deep love for the people of Pandora. Raised with the Sully kids, Spider is practically family even though Neytiri says early on in Avatar
Ronal is the tsahik, or spiritual leader, of the oceanic Metkayina clan. Proud, strict, traditional and difficult to impress, she is not convinced that the Metkayina should help the Sullys. While she doesn’t say anything in obvious terms, she seems to be one of those Na’vi who is distrustful of Jake because he’s a hybrid. In Avatar: The Way of Water, Ronal is pregnant.
The leader of the Metkayina clan, Tonowari is known for his loyalty and for being a great warrior. He’s a friend of Jake Sully’s and stands up for him whenever anyone disrespects Jake. When the Sullys arrive, Tonowari shows he is welcoming the newcomers by assigning his son and daughter to teach the Sully kids the way of water.
He has a blink-and-miss-it role, but fans of Flight of the Conchords will be happy to see Clement playing a bemused scientist in Avatar: The Way of Water. At one point, Quaritch teams up with a crew that does the Pandora equivalent of whaling. Clement’s Dr. Garvin is the science man of the expedition.