Fire And Ash Villain Varang Is ‘Hero Of Her People’

As we’ve learned in the Avatar saga so far, the Na’vi are not a monolith. The giant blue inhabitants of Pandora consist of various peoples, whose relationship with the land varies wildly. The first film brought us the Omatikaya and their sprawling Hometree, a clan firmly in tune with the lush jungle; The Way Of Water introduced the Metkayina, who have developed alongside their relationship with the oceans, from their aquamarine skin-tone to their flipper-like webbed hands. Now, in Avatar: Fire And Ash, we’ll meet the Mangkwan clan – a Na’vi faction whose existence on Pandora has not been so harmonious.

The Mangkwan, or Ash People, will play a more antagonistic role in the Avatar saga, hardened by a tragedy that has left them less-than-enamoured with Pandora’s spiritual entity, Eywa. “They have a bunch of unresolved trauma,” says Oona Chaplin, who plays their leader Varang – set to be a formidable force in Fire And Ash. “They got hit by a natural disaster and what Varang did was say, ‘Well, fuck Eywa.’” Where the Omatikaya and Metkayina both believe deeply in the interconnectedness of Pandora’s ecosystem, Varang has led the Mangkwan down another path. “She basically goes towards a different power, and tries to harness that, and in so doing kind of raises her people out of misery,” Chaplin explains. “It’s easy to fall into the villain mentality, but actually she’s the hero of her people. Because she’s saved them out of misery and starvation and begging.”

Still, the role took Chaplin to obscure places, sending her to “a really weird headspace” for a while. “I kind of covered my whole trailer with very vivid and disturbing images of the kind of trauma that Varang would have gone through,” she reveals. She also assembled an intense playlist to channel some vengeful energy. “I got really into throat-singing with Varang, and I got really into Slipknot,” she says. “I’d never really gone into death metal, and probably Slipknot is laughable to some people: ‘Oh, that’s so mild’,” she says. “But it was pretty hardcore for me.” Off-screen, the character proved tough to shake. “She did seep into my psyche a little more than I had anticipated,” Chaplin laughs. “It was okay. I didn’t rip anybody’s head off.” Thank Eywa for that.

Read Empire’s full Avatar: Fire And Ash story – going to Avatar HQ for two days with James Cameron as he works on the film, also featuring up-to-date cast interviews, never-before-seen images and more – in the September 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 31 July. Pre-order a copy online here. Avatar: Fire And Ash comes to UK cinemas from 19 December.