'Avatar: Fire and Ash' Star Jack Champion Was Made For This

Set on the lush alien moon of Pandora, Avatar is more than just the biggest film franchise on Earth; it’s an immersive world built around themes of environmentalism, colonization, chosen family and spiritual connection to nature. At the center of it all are the Na’vi, Pandora’s Indigenous people, whose culture is defined by deep emotional and physical ties to the planet itself. For audiences who may not be fluent in Avatar lore, Spider serves as a natural entry point: a human boy raised among the Na’vi, caught between worlds, cultures, and identities.

Spider, whose full name is Miles Socorro, is the franchise’s most literal bridge between humanity and Pandora. He’s too human to fully belong among the Na’vi, yet emotionally tethered to them through the Sully family, who raise him as one of their own. That longing for belonging is what defines Spider — and, in many ways, it mirrors Champion’s own experience growing up on a set that became its own kind of home.

Filming for Avatar began in 2017, when Champion was barely a teenager. By the time Fire and Ash arrives in theaters, he’s an adult reflecting on years spent inside one of the most technically ambitious productions in cinema history. “It feels like it’s a long time coming,” he says. "2017 is when we started, so I feel like it’s been years of anticipation… it’s very overwhelming.” What once felt monumental eventually became routine — a necessary normalization when the stakes are this high. “After a while, once you’re on year three of making this movie, it’s so normalized that you almost forget the pressure of, ‘Oh wow, this is a big blockbuster thing,’ which is a good thing.”

That sense of normalization didn’t erase the emotional weight of the role, though, especially as Fire and Ash pushes Spider into darker territory. Champion describes the most challenging part of the film as Spider’s relationship with the Sully family, a bond defined by love, distance, and heartbreak. “He always wanted to be part of the Sully family,” Champion says, noting how the feeling mirrored his own experience returning home after months away on set. “I also wanted to be a normal kid and have normal experiences in life, but I couldn’t have that while filming for months and months on end.”

There’s a quiet poetry in the fact that Champion’s earliest memory of Avatar is watching the original film as a child, staying up past bedtime and feeling completely transported. “I just remember being so captivated by it,” he says. Years later, he isn’t just part of that world — he’s grown up inside it.

We sat down with Champion to discuss the upcoming release of Fire and Ash, what parts of Na’vi culture he would want IRL, and growing up within the highest-grossing film franchise on the planet.

You’ve lived with this character through some massive personal years. What headspace are you in right now with Fire and Ash coming out next month?

Yeah, I mean, it feels like it’s a long time coming. You know, 2017 is when we started, so I feel like it’s been years of anticipation. And I mean, it’s hard to put into words, but it’s just kind of like this thing has finally happened. The anticipation, the hype, it’s almost too much. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s very overwhelming.

Because you were basically a kid when you were cast, right?

Yeah, I was 12 years old, and I just turned 21, so it’s been almost 10 years, I guess. It’s crazy. It’s absolutely nuts.

I mean, you literally went through puberty while you were cast. How does it feel looking back, having grown up with the film? Do you feel like an Avatar character now — is it part of your identity? Or how do you separate the growth?

Yeah. No, I did. I mean, I feel like the character Spider is kind of like a Tarzan-esque character, you know, like a Mowgli. So I feel that wildness — that wild feeling of the inner person, whether it be the aggression aspect or the willingness-to-do-anything aspect — is something that everyone around me on set helped me live in. And to this day, I feel like I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t played that character. There are aspects of Spider in my brain that will never go away.

It’s literally the biggest film franchise on Earth. So when you’re on those sets, does it feel massive, or do you find yourself tuning it out to actually do the job?

I feel like it’s honestly so normalized almost immediately. At first there was definitely that aspect of, Holy crap, this is one of the biggest movies ever, and this is one of the sequels, so it’s one of the biggest movies ever, blah, blah, blah. But very soon, you get into a rhythm of, “OK, every day I’m working with this amazing cast and crew,” and they slowly but surely feel like friends, and then friends to family. After a while, once you’re on year three of making this movie, it’s like, OK, it’s so normalized that you almost forget the pressure of, “Oh wow, this is a big blockbuster thing,” which is a good thing, in my opinion.

Is there anything about you at 12 versus you now that directly changed how Spider behaves or moves or reacts?

I feel like, when I was cast at 12 years old, the character Spider was always written as like 15 years old-ish. So when I was first cast, I felt like I was playing older than I was, and I hadn’t even hit puberty yet, so I was pretending to be this, I guess, hormonal teenager. And then the hormones actually came in, and I became a hormonal teenager, so it was a lot easier to play. And now, if I ever go back for FPR or something, if there are little pickups here and there, I really have to play young. So it’s funny how it works. I don’t know if that answers your question, but yeah. It’s always felt like I’ve been playing older, younger… yeah.

Without spoiling anything, what part of Spider’s journey in this film felt the most emotionally challenging for you as an actor?

I guess it’s just his heartbreaking relationship with the Sully family. That was the hardest to wrap my head around a little bit, because I feel like he always wanted to be part of the Sully family. And to me, as a human being, I feel like I could relate, because I spent so many years filming this movie, and then whenever I’d come back home — of course I had friends and family — but there was always some amount of disconnect, because I’d been gone for years or months at a time. I also wanted to be a normal kid and have normal experiences in life, but I couldn’t have that while filming for months and months on end. So I think that was something I could relate to, but it also made it really emotional and really personal when I was performing those emotional scenes.

Do you remember watching the first Avatar as a kid?

Yeah. I was four years old when it came out in theaters. I never saw it then. My earliest memory was at my mom’s house. It was nighttime, and I got to stay up extra late because we were watching a movie. And I just remember being so wowed by it, because as a kid, however old I must’ve been — like seven years old or something — I was watching Disney Channel movies or whatever. And then you go from that to… wow. This is like a “WTF” kind of moment. I just remember being so captivated by it. I also remember literally thinking, “God, they have to make a sequel to this,” which is just funny to think about now.

What’s something about Spider that you personally relate to, or something about him you wish you had in your own life?

I feel like something I relate to him on is his… well, I feel like he’s very much a ride-or-die for his friends. He’s a very loyal guy to his friends and his family, and I feel like that’s something that’s ingrained in me as a person as well. But something I wish I had was…I mean, he’s an action-movie character. I wish I had his bravery. I’d be lying if I said I was as brave as Spider. I mean, all these characters just go head-on into battle and are so good at climbing through chaos. And I wish I had his parkour skills, as well as his Mowgli, jungle-swinging skills.

If you could steal one piece of Na’vi culture and bring it into your real daily life, what would it be?

I don’t know if this counts as a culture thing, but I wish that kuru were real. I would love to actually, like — you know, us as humans, we can spiritually connect to nature, but I wish there was a physical plug where we could just plug into nature and visit our ancestors. I feel like we could communicate, at least emotionally, with our dogs. Literally just sync our minds for a second. I don’t know. It’d be so cool.

For the fans who have followed Spider closely throughout the years, what’s one thing you want them to pay attention to in this film? Or what do you hope people feel walking out of Fire and Ash in general?

I hope they feel very full. Creatively, imaginatively. I hope they feel like if there was a thirst for experiencing the world, that feeling is quenched. And as far as what to look out for with Spider, I feel like just his emotional journey. I feel like "

Images courtesy of Jack Champion