"Avatar: Fire and Ash" Cast & James Cameron Reveal Secrets of the Wind Traders

The skies of Pandora have never felt more alive. In Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron opens the curtain on one of the film’s most breathtaking world-building achievements: the Wind Traders. A nomadic clan whose entire existence unfolds in the air.

What’s Happening:

• According to Entertainment Weekly, James Cameron and the cast of Avatar: Fire and Ash are finally ready to pull back the veil on one of Pandora’s most mysterious groups. 
• In an exclusive look for EW’s “It Takes a Village” series, Cameron, the performers, and key members of the crafts team break down the Wind Traders’ unforgettable sequence, a moment that sends a floating galleon soaring across a sunlit sky, anchored by the kind of deep world-building only Avatar can deliver.
• Set to debut in theaters December 19, the film introduces this sky-born clan with a sweeping, meticulously crafted sequence that Cameron calls “the biggest performance-capture set we ever built… it filled the sound stage from end to end.”
• David Thewlis steps into the role of Peylak, the clan’s leader. The Wind Traders are nomadic, traversing Pandora not by sea or land, but through the clouds — their goods carried aboard a massive floating galleon pulled by a Wind Ray, a creature that blends the elegance of manta rays with the bioluminescent strangeness of Pandora’s wildlife.
• Their arrival scene is a visual feast: shimmering sails, drifting platforms, and sky creatures gliding in formation.
• EW’s exclusive breakdown features insights from the crafts team members who brought this clan to life:
  • Richard Baneham, visual effects supervisor and virtual second unit director, describes the technical ballet required to shoot the Wind Traders’ airborne caravan.
  • Deborah L. Scott, costume designer, details the vibrant clothing and tightly wrapped hair braids that hint at traditions we have yet to fully understand.
  • Dylan Cole, production designer, explains how their culture is embedded in every texture, stitch, and piece of architecture seen in the sequence.
• The crew notes that the film doesn’t explain everything about Wind Trader culture, but the clues are all there, woven into the world-building.
• Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldaña (Neytiri), Sigourney Weaver (Kiri), and Jack Champion (Spider) appear in the breakdown to share what it was like performing opposite such an elaborate performance-capture environment.
• The sequence also contains emotional echoes of the past. The crafts team points out Neytiri’s funeral paint, a nod to the family’s ongoing grief for Neteyam following Avatar: The Way of Water.
• Avatar: Fire and Ash finds the Sullys caught in the continued conflict between the Na'vi and the RDA. But this time, another force rises, being the Ash People, a volcanic clan led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). 
• The crafts team hints at an explosive confrontation involving both the Ash People and the Wind Traders, a clash that expands Pandora’s geography and its cultural landscape.
• For the full behind-the-scenes deep dive into how the Wind Traders took flight and to see the sequence in action, watch Entertainment Weekly’s exclusive video breakdown:

More Avatar: Fire and Ash News:

• Third Time's Still the Charm: "Avatar: Fire and Ash" and Pandora Burn Brighter Than Ever Before as First Reactions Pour In
• Dive Into the Sound of Pandora: "Avatar: Fire and Ash" Soundtrack Announced
• Taste The Fire: Pandora's New Menu Is Heating Up With Avatar 3 Vibes