Production designer Dylan Cole, a designer working on James Cameron's Avatar 3, revealed he made a mistake on some new art featuring the film's Fire Na'vi. The third Avatar movie (subtitled Fire and Ash) is set to release in theaters later this year, continuing the multi-billion dollar sci-fi odyssey with a new story that centers on an alien civil war on the far-off planet of Pandora.
Part of this new chapter in Cameron's ever-evolving Pandoran epic will introduce several new alien Na'vi tribes, including the long-teased Ash people (a contingent of fire Na'vi living in the volcanic regions of Pandora). These fire Na'vi were the focus of a recent piece of art for the movie, which its designer revealed features a glaring error if fans look close enough.
Avatar 3 production designer Dylan Cole shared on X that he may have messed up a bit when working on a piece of art used for the film's recent Empire Magazine cover.
After the release of the new cover, fans quickly pointed out that one of its central fire Na'vi has a full five-fingered hand, something only human-Na'vi Avatars have in franchise lore.
X user Artomiss asked Cole, "Can you confirm whether or not the Na’vi next to Varang is meant to have four digits or three," suggesting that it would be odd for the new tribe to have an Avatar among them:
"Can you confirm whether or not the Na’vi next to Varang is meant to have four digits or three??? I think it would be really neat if she accepts outcasts like that. Or if they’re not meant to have an extra digit and are pure Na'vi then that’s also understandable. Just wanted to know."
Addressing questions such as this, Cole revealed, "I f--d up" and had never meant for the five-fingered fire Na'vi to be included in the Avatar 3 promotional art. It turns out the designer had "shot [his] own hand for reference and forgot to paint out a finger," which is why the head-scratching hand made it into the cover:
"To everyone talking about the hand with four fingers... very simple- I fucked up. I shot my own hand for reference and forgot to paint out a finger!"
In the Avatar series, only the human controller Avatar (humans embodying the mind of a lab-grown Na'vi body) has four proper digits along with a thumb, whereas natural-born Na'vi, like Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri, have three with a thumb.
Avatar: Fire and Ash comes to theaters on December 19. The third movie in the sci-fi mega-franchise from Terminator director James Cameron will again follow Sam Worthington's Jake Sully and his family on the alien planet of Pandora. A year after the events of Avatar: The Way of Water, the Sully Clan's fate is changed forever as they encounter a new aggressive clan of Na'vi, who quickly tie the family up in a planet-wide civil war.
Why The Fire Na'vi Would Never Allow an Avatar Among Them
Seeing this new Avatar 3 art, some fans had speculated about why the new Ash People (or fire Na'vi) would allow a full five-fingered Avatar among them.
Well, at least according to production designer Dylan Cole, they wouldn't. The alien character with the four visible fingers was a simple mistake, and there is now a human-Na'vi Avatar within their ranks. And that is probably for the best.
The fire Na'vi have been described as the villains of the new movie. They are meant to "show the Na'vi in a different light," according to director James Cameron, making them seem as ruthless and terrifying as the military adversaries of Quaritch and the RDA seen in the first two films.
It certainly sounds like they would not be open to having a human Avatar in their community.
Rumor has it that the Ash People will partner with the villainous Quartich (who is now in Avatar form himself) at some point in the new movie, meaning they will need to overcome this 'no outsiders' policy.
Perhaps Steven Lang's Avatar villain will present the crimson-skinned Na'vi characters with a quid pro quo of sorts to join forces, as they both venture to take down Jake Sully and the entire Sully clan.
