James Cameron has made it no secret that Avatar would be a multi-generational franchise. That's incredibly apparent even in Avatar: The Way of Water, where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) take a backseat role in favor of their children. But while Jake gets a sizeable role, Neytiri is left without much to do for a lot of Avatar: The Way of Water's runtime.
The Sully kids are undoubtedly the driving force behind the film, and will presumably be taking over as main characters as they age into adults, but their story shouldn't edge out Neytiri from the narrative. Her role is one of the series' most fascinating, and Saldaña's performance one of the most compelling. Her absence makes one wonder why she wasn't utilized much in Avatar: The Way of Water.
Neytiri Was a Main Character in Avatar
Neytiri is arguably the deuteragonist in Avatar. While Jake represents the human side of the conflict and the growth humanity has yet to achieve, Neytiri represents the Na'vi way of life and the balance they've achieved with nature as a society, even while still having their own individual flaws. Neytiri is Jake's reluctant mentor, but over the course of the story, they come to realize their attractions for one another and become mates. Though she feels a terrible betrayal when she finds out that Jake was originally intending to betray the Omatikaya, she forgives him and even comes to embrace his humanity.
At the end of the last movie, Neytiri was in an interesting position. Her father, Eytukan (Wes Studi), was the Olo'eyktan or Clan Leader of the Omatikaya. He gave her his bow just prior to dying after an attack on the tribe's Hometree. Jake eventually took the position of Olo'eyktan, but he still only had rudimentary knowledge of the Na'vi way. Neytiri's mother, Mo'at (C.C.H. Pounder), was still alive, so she remained the tribe's Tsahik, or spiritual leader. The two are usually mates, however, and Neytiri was being trained to be the clan's next Tsahik. One would expect her to take on an important role in the Omatikaya regardless of her title, however. As Jake's mate, she would surely guide him in his future as the Clan's Leader - he still had much to learn from her.
Neytiri's Role in Avatar: The Way of Water
Neytiri does get some time to shine in Avatar: The Way of Water, but only during the climactic battle. For the first two acts, she's actually seen very little. Her character is in the background; she argues with Jake over his protectiveness over their children, and later argues with him over his decision to go into exile. As Mo'at is still around, Neytiri doesn't appear to hold any position in the Omatikaya structure.
When Avatar: The Way of Water explores the depths of Pandora, Neytiri is nowhere to be found. After Jake and his family go into exile, the Metkayina welcome them into their way of life in order to shield them from the returning humans. The Metkayina chief, Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), makes it clear that the family must learn to be useful around their village, which includes them learning how to freedive and bond with the various underwater animals they revere.
While Jake has a few sequences about learning how to adapt into their way of life, and even has a scene where he tries to learn how to ride a skimwing. During this act, Neytiri does not learn much of the Metkayina way. She appears to be mostly confined to the family's new hut. As a hunter and warrior, it seems slightly uncharacteristic of Neytiri to miss out on this. Though she does not give up her own flying companion, the ikran, she never bonds with another creature during the film's runtime.
Neytiri is a proud character, and that's made clear in the film. When she first meets Ronal (Kate Winslet), the two have something of a rivalry. As a Forest Na'vi, Neytiri appears to have cultural prejudice towards the Sea Na'vi, but this aspect of her character isn't explored in depth. In fact, she and Ronal never interact again after their initial standoff, though the rest of her family all have foils among the Sea People.
By the end of the film, Neytiri does have an emotional moment when Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) dies. Her firstborn son, whose birth is shown in the opening moments of the film, is killed by humanity, and Neytiri immediately goes on the offense. She takes her revenge on any human she can, and even reveals that her prejudice extends towards innocent humans as well - threatening and frightening Spider (Jack Champion). Her father's bow is also destroyed during this confrontation, enraging her even more.
Her lack of training does come back to haunt her as well. It's up to Kiri to save her and Tuk (Trinity Bliss) from the sinking ship because Neytiri doesn't know the requisite freediving skills. Hopefully she makes up for that in the next film; by the end of Avatar: The Way of Water, she's fully a part of the Metkayina Clan, and she'll need those skills in the future.
Neytiri's Role in Future Movies
Avatar 4 is actually farther along than fans realize, and Neytiri probably won't be leaving the franchise anytime soon. In fact, the sequel's opening act has already been filmed to account for the ages of the young actors, meaning that Neytiri won't be much older for Avatar 3 and will still be a capable warrior. There are going to be plenty of battles to come, so it's going to be imperative that there are as many Na'vi characters that are able and willing to fight in the upcoming conflicts.
Producer Jon Landau has already revealed that Neytiri will be on Earth in Avatar 5. Landau explained that Neytiri's prejudice against humans will be explored and challenged in this film; though she's only had experiences with militant colonizers so far, she'll have to come to terms with the average human back on Earth, and come face-to-face with their suffering. Saldaña also stated that Neytiri's feelings towards humans in Avatar: The Way of Water are negative. Despite her family technically being full of human hybrids, it's easier for her to accept them as her own because they appear to be mostly Na'vi.
Neytiri's attitude towards humans is clearly going to be a major arc for her character. It's possible she'll start to take an ever more militant stance against their presence; she already showed that she was willing to kill Spider, who grew up alongside her own children. After the death of her own son, Neteyam, who's to say what Neytiri will want to do next? This may put her at odds with her own husband, who's more sympathetic towards humans for obvious reasons. A darker turn for Neytiri would fit in well for the themes of the franchise - Cameron has already implied he wants to make the conflict more complicated in future installments by introducing antagonistic Na'vi and more heroic humans.
There's still plenty of room for Neytiri's character to grow. While she didn't have a huge presence in Avatar: The Way of Water, the character was a standout in the final act, and Saldaña really showcased her own acting skills. Hopefully, in future installments of the franchise, she's given a bit more to do.