'Avatar: Fire and Ash's Sole Oscar-Winners Reflect on Evolution of VFX Across 2 Decades [Exclusive]

Published Mar 16, 2026, 11:59 AM EDT

The winning team for Avatar: Fire and Ash — Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett — has been associated with Cameron's franchise since 2005. They've witnessed the evolution of visual effects over the last two decades, but their focus, they said, has always been on capturing the incredible performances of the cast. The Avatar movies are considered groundbreaking in the performance capture sphere, and are filmed on soundstages where actors can interact with each other and their surroundings without being limited by green screens and the like. The Oscar-winning team expressed gratitude for working with largely the same crew over the years, and they also mentioned the technical challenges.

'Avatar: Fire and Ash' VFX Team Has Been on This Journey for Over 20 Years

Responding to Collider's question about how they've continued to push the envelope with each installment of the Avatar franchise, the six-time Oscar-winner Letteri said, "It's all about the characters, and each new character that we get to do. Like with Oona Chaplin's character, it's really about trying to understand the emotion and the physicality and how they work together. I know there are a lot of things we had to do with the fire to make it directable... There's a lot of water, there's a lot of world-building. We had to build hundreds of thousands of miles of ropes and weaving for the costumes. All that detail goes into it. But for us, it's about the characters and performances." Baneham, who has two previous Oscars for his work on the franchise, added:

"We've been very lucky with the evolution of it. The toolset that was laid out in 2005 has evolved. I won't say changed, because it has been a true evolution. We've been incredibly fortunate to keep consistency with our crew. Think about that. We've been making the same series for nigh on 20 years, and so many of our crew have been with us from the get-go. That really imparts an emotional connection to the characters. It elevates everybody's work."

Without the Performances, the Visual Effects of Avatar Would Feel Empty

Acting in the Avatar movies has always been overlooked, which is something that Cameron has often expressed dismay about. Baneham's victory speech was cut short just as he was about to thank the cast; he got an opportunity to complete his comments in the press room. He said, "The truth is, we live and die by performances. Unfortunately, we didn't get to thank the cast properly. They are such an integral part of the process. We did everything to [remove what could be a distraction] for them and try and allow them to be present and in the moment at every possible turn. We made a visual effects movie, a spectacle, but the truth is, it's a heart movie. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, is what we explore. Grief is an incredibly hard thing to broach. Everybody experiences it, and we truly tried to make a ubiquitous movie."

Avatar: Fire and Ash concluded its theatrical run as the lowest-grossing installment of the series, which is still an impressive feat with just under $1.5 billion worldwide, despite the $2.9 billion global haul of the first Avatar film and the $2.3 billion haul of Avatar: The Way of Water. The franchise's future is up in the air, considering the high costs involved — the third movie is said to have cost more than $400 million. But Cameron has expressed interest in making at least two more movies, even if he doesn't direct them himself.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.