Jake Sully

Production history

Casting

Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum were considered for the role of Jake Sully. Matt Damon was a candidate, but the production schedule of Avatar conflicted with his work on The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). 20th Century Fox pushed for Jake Gyllenhaal to play the part, but Gyllenhaal was focused on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). Sam Worthington, at the time a relatively unknown actor, became frustrated after several secretive auditions—he was not told what the film was about or who was directing. He had an angry outburst, which caught the attention of Cameron, who was seeking an actor with a certain amount of "grit". Once Cameron had narrowed down the list of candidates to Evans, Tatum and Worthington, he compared how each actor read Jake's rallying speech to the Na'vi near the end of the film, and he felt Worthington's performance was the best. Cameron said that Worthington had two contradictory but necessary qualities for the role—toughness and vulnerability. In addition to playing Jake, Worthington briefly appears as Jake's deceased identical twin, Dr. Tom "Tommy" Sully. When he was cast in Avatar, Worthington also signed on for potential sequels.

Appearances

Films

In the 22nd century, Jake Sully was discharged from the United States Marine Corps after suffering a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. After the death of Jake's twin brother Tom, the Resources Development Administration (RDA) offers Jake the opportunity to take his brother's place in the Avatar Program on the moon Pandora, where humans are mining a valuable mineral called unobtanium. Jake would learn to remotely operate an avatar—a hybrid body grown from both human DNA and the DNA of the Na'vi, the indigenous people of Pandora. The avatars are part of a plan to remove the Na'vi from the area so the RDA can access a rich vein of unobtanium.

Dr. Grace Augustine, the head of the Avatar Program, considers Jake an inadequate replacement for Tom but accepts him into the program. While piloting his avatar and escorting Grace and Dr. Norm Spellman through the Pandoran jungle, Jake is attacked by a thanator. He is rescued by Neytiri, a female Na'vi, who takes him to her clan after witnessing an auspicious sign. Mo'at, Neytiri's mother and the clan's spiritual leader, orders Neytiri to initiate Jake into their society. Jake agrees to give information that he gains while learning the Na'vi ways to Colonel Miles Quaritch, the head of the RDA's security force.

Over the next three months, Jake falls in love with Neytiri and begins sympathizing with the Na'vi. He reveals his change of allegiance when he attempts to disable a bulldozer that is threatening to destroy a sacred Na'vi site. RDA Administrator Parker Selfridge orders Quaritch to destroy the Na'vi clan's Hometree, but Jake asks for one hour to convince the Na'vi to evacuate.

Jake confesses to the Na'vi that he was a spy, and they take him and Grace captive as Quaritch's forces destroy Hometree. In the midst of the chaos, Mo'at frees Jake and Grace, who are then detached from their avatars and imprisoned by the RDA. Disgusted by Quaritch's brutality, pilot Trudy Chacón frees Jake, Grace, and Norm and airlifts them to Grace's outpost, although Grace is shot by Quaritch during the escape.

To regain the Na'vi's trust, Jake connects his mind to Toruk, a dragon-like predator who is feared and honored by the Na'vi. Jake pleads with Mo'at to heal Grace and transfer her human body into her avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls, but Grace dies before the process can be completed. Jake rallies Neytiri's clan and other Na'vi clans to fight the RDA. During the ensuing battle, the Na'vi suffer heavy casualties, but the tide turns when Pandoran wildlife unexpectedly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as divine intervention.

Comics

Shortly after the events of the Avatar, Jake has the Na'vi give his human body a traditional burial and moves the Omaticaya Clan near Hell's Gate to be close to the human allies who were allowed to stay on Pandora. Two weeks later, Jake still visits his former body's burial site, envisioning himself as a human. Neytiri informs him she must go help the Olangi Clan, who had suffered the most casualties from the war. Jake, thinking about how the other clan's belief in him is getting shaky, agrees with her and sees her off.

Jake confides in Mo'at his lack of self-confidence as clan leader and the guilt he faces for the destruction of Hometree. Mo'at assures Jake that he is stronger than he thinks, and that their new home and him becoming Toruk Makto was Eywa's will. Tsu'tey's parents, Artsut and Ateyo, arrive with their other son, Arvok, who challenges Jake's position as Olo'eyktan by invoking First Blood. Jake agrees to fight Arvok despite Mo'at warning that the ritual is dangerous. Jake easily defeats Arvok by cutting his arm and drawing blood. Angry about his loss, Arvok throws his knife at Jake, who catches it, but gets poisoned and collapses into a coma.

In his coma, Jake has nightmares where he is tormented by the deceased Miles Quaritch and Tsu'tey, until he unintentionally makes tsaheylu with the Tree of Souls and is transported into the Pandoran Neural Network. The manifested spirits of Eytukan and Tsu'tey urge him to forgive himself for his mistakes and offer guidance. Tsu'tey reveals Artsut and Ateyo's plan to Jake, explaining that although their actions were wrong, they had the interests of the Omaticaya at heart. Jake decides that he will punish them for their wrongdoings, while also being merciful towards them in doing so.

Awaking from his coma, Jake exiles Artsut and Ateyo for their assassination attempt. After they leave, he gathers the Omaticaya, promising to do his best and lead them to a better future. Neytiri returns and finds Jake at the gravesite. Neytiri comments that he doesn't seem like himself, but Jake reassures her that he has never felt more like himself and leaves his human body behind.

Years after the events of Avatar, Jake and Neytiri have settled and have created a family, and are trying to keep peace in their family, but Jake still worries that the humans will return while everyone else believes he is just paranoid, and believe that Eywa chased the humans away the first time, and she will do the same this time around.

Merchandise

Mattel made action figures of Jake Sully as part of their range of Avatar action figures. The variants included: Avatar Jake Sully, Avatar Jake Sully (Clothes) and Avatar Jake Sully (Warrior). He was also included in a range of Avatar toys produced for McDonald's Happy Meals. In 2022, McFarlane Toys began releasing toys based on the Avatar franchise, among them include a Jake Sully action figure, an action figure of Jake riding his banshee, a set of Jake fighting the thanator, and a set of Jake in the Omatikaya rainforest. They will be releasing an additional three toys to coincide with the release of Avatar: The Way of Water. Further, in November 2022, Funko announced they would be releasing two Pop! Vinyl toys based on Jake Sully, one which shows him in his basic avatar body and the other of him as Toruk Makto. Lego has produced Minifigures of Jake Sully for its Lego Avatar theme. Of the ten sets released so far, Sully appears in 4 of them, with 5 minifigures representing his human form and his Avatar's various looks throughout both films. Lego has also made two BrickHeadz depicting his human and Avatar forms.

Reception

For his performance in Avatar, Worthington won the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his performance as Sully at the 36th Saturn Awards. He was subsequently nominated a second time for his performance in Avatar: The Way of Water at the 51st Saturn Awards.

In 2022, Worthington was nominated for the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association award for Best Motion Capture Performance for his performance in The Way of Water. However, the award ultimately ended up going to his co-star Zoe Saldaña.