Becoming a Father Makes Jake Sully More Interesting

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water improves upon its predecessor in nearly every aspect. The CGI is sleeker and more refined, leading to some stunning visuals. Director/co-writer James Cameron expands upon the mythology of Pandora in new and surprising ways, especially when it comes to the various Na’vi clans. And Avatar: The Way of Water isn’t afraid to deliver a bold if somewhat heavy-handed message about the importance of keeping the environment safe. But the biggest improvement? Avatar: The Way of Water makes Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) into an actual character. And a large part of that is due to Jake’s relationship with his newfound family.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Makes Jake More Compelling

In the original Avatar, Jake was a paraplegic soldier who took on the “avatar” of a Na’vi to assist a human mining operation on Pandora. There, he encountered the Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and fell in love with her, turning against his fellow soldiers. While the worldbuilding and visuals within the first Avatar were truly groundbreaking, it suffered from a lack of compelling characters. Many of the great genre films live or die by their characters — imagine how well Star Wars would work without Luke Skywalker or how Lord of the Rings would fare without Frodo Baggins. In comparison, Jake’s journey feels rather trite. Infiltrating another nation? Getting in too deep? Falling in love? It had been done before and done better.

Avatar: The Way of Water takes steps to correct this, exploring how Jake has adapted to Na’vi life a decade after the events of Avatar. In that time, he’s become the leader of the Omaticaya tribe and has three children with Neytiri: Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). In the opening sequences of Avatar: The Way of Water, Jake is shown teaching his children how to hunt as well as tame the beasts of Pandora, and these moments will melt even the hardest of hearts.

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Fatherhood Is a Double-Edged Sword in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

The love that Jake has for his biological children in Avatar: The Way of Water extends to two other children: his adoptive daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and the human boy known only as Spider (Jack Champion). Both have a connection to Jake’s past life: Kiri was born of the avatar of Dr. Grace Augustine, whom Jake was deployed to protect in the first film, and Spider is the son of his former commanding officer Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Yet Jake is willing to protect them just as much as his own flesh and blood, a bond he reinforces through a single saying: “Sullys stick together.”

And that vow is put to the test in Avatar: The Way of Water when humanity returns to Pandora, intent on mining the land for its various resources. Among them is Colonel Quaritch, who’s been resurrected as a Na’vi avatar and is leading a squadron of similar soldiers. In order to protect his family, Jake launches a series of raids against the human invaders. But things backfire when his children are captured by Quaritch and his soldiers. Though Jake and Neytiri manage to save their children, they know the danger that Quaritch poses. Therefore, they exile themselves from their tribe and seek refuge with the water-dwelling Metkayina.

This decision also sheds light on how Jake’s dedication to his family in Avatar: The Way of Water is a double-edged sword. When he first poses the idea of exile, Neytiri vehemently objects. The Omaticaya is all she’s known, so being asked to leave is equivalent to asking her to cut her own arm off. Jake also tends to favor Neteyam over Lo’ak, scolding the younger boy over his rash nature. Yet that nature is something Lo’ak inherited from Jake, and it shows when Quaritch once again captures his children.

Ultimately, Jake learns to place his trust in Lo’ak as the two escape a sinking submarine in the third act of Avatar: The Way of Water. That trust is rewarded as the two manage to escape alongside Neytiri and Tuk. And in the end, Jake vows to fight for his family. According to Cameron, Worthington’s real life mirrored Avatar: The Way of Water as he too is married with children: “In the first film, Sam was playing a guy who would do anything and make any kind of fearless leap of faith,” Cameron said in an interview with Variety. “Well, a guy with kids does not make the same decisions. He’s not the kind of mythic warrior that he was at the end of the first film.” Making Jake a father in Avatar: The Way of Water is a change that results in a stronger, more interesting character.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters.