Avatar: How Old Are Jake Sully, Neytiri, Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tuk & Kiri in The Way of Water?

After 13 years of waiting, Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to James Cameron’s original Avatar movie is now finally in theaters. This sequel was one of the most anticipated movies in the last ten years, and now that we have finally watched it, there’s plenty to talk about this epic cinematic spectacle. We have already written about where The Way of Water takes place in the timeline of this franchise since it’s obvious there’s been a significant time jump between the original movie and the sequel. So, in this article, we will dive more into numbers to find out how old in The Way of Water the main characters Jake Sully and Neytiri are, as well as their children Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tuk, and Kiri.

The main events of Avatar: The Way of Water occur in 2169, which is 15 years after the events of the original movie. Jake Sully was born in 2126, so he’s 43 years old in the sequel. Neytiri was born in 2136, so she’s 33 years old in the sequel. Neteyam, their oldest son, was born in 2155 (when Jake was 29), so he should be 14 years old in The Way of Water. Lo’ak, Neteyam’s younger brother, was born not long after him, so he should be around the same age, and Tuktirey, nicknamed Tuk, Jake and Neytiri’s youngest child, was born in 2161, so she’s eight years old. Kiri, the adoptive daughter of Jake and Neytiri was born before Neteyam, around 2154-2155, which means that she’s 15-16 years old in The Way of Water.

The Way of Water is all about family

Avatar: The Way of Water is all about the family, but not in the Fast & Furious kind of way. The opening sequence of the movie introduced the audience to all of Jake and Neytiri’s children; two sons, one daughter, one adoptive son, and one adoptive daughter. While Jake and Neytiri were the main characters in the original movie, we could say that the plot of the sequel was more focused on their children who carried most of the movie’s plot points.

The original movie took place in 2154, and despite the sequel happening a decade and a half later, the opening sequence of the movie took place shortly after the events of the first movie, showing us how Jake and Neytiri settled down and started their family. But after many years of peace and happiness, the humans returned to Pandora in 2168, and the movie then jumps one more year, to 2169, when the main events of the sequel are starting to occur.

What can we expect in the third Avatar movie?

Unlike the original movie, which could stand on its own, The Way of Water was certainly made as a franchise movie that left us with questions and cliffhangers which should be resolved in one of the upcoming movies. Given that the sequel was heavily focused on the Sully family, we can only assume the threequel will continue the story in the same way.

One of the questions for which The Way of Water didn’t provide a clear answer is the question of Kiri’s parentage. As we have seen in the movie, the deceased Grace Augustine is the biological mother of Kiri, but who is her biological father still remains unknown. Also, Jake is not aware that his mortal enemy Colonel Quaritch survived their latest encounter. We can only speculate what the third movie will be about, but it seems pretty obvious that its story will be built on resolving those cliffhangers.

When the original Avatar movie was released in 2009, it was a ground-breaking cinematic spectacle that grossed more than $2.8 billion and to this day it’s still the highest-grossing movie in history. It’s pretty hard to foresee if the sequel will repeat that commercial success, but the good news is that the sequel is still showing James Cameron’s talent at its finest. Also, The Way of Water and the third movie were filmed back-to-back, so we won’t need to wait long for the threequel, as it’s set to be released in only two years, on December 20, 2024.

After The Way of Water, there are three more sequels that are set to be released with a two-year gap between each other, meaning that the fourth movie, which is currently in production, is set to be released in December 2026, and the fifth movie is set to be released in December 2028. If one thing is for sure, after so many years, there will be plenty of Avatar to watch in the next few years.

Written, directed, edited, and produced by James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water now plays in theaters.