Is it safe to say that until James Cameron went into ecological science fiction/fantasy with his landmark 2009 blockbuster, few had a clue what “avatar” meant?

That changed with “Avatar,” his immersion into Pandora, a planet populated by the Na’vi, a blue-hued race fighting for their survival against invasive, destructive Western military machinery keen to strip their world of its natural resources.

Now, many on planet Earth know about avatars. After all, “Avatar” with its $2.9 billion global gross, stands as the top-grossing movie of all time. Its sequel, the 2022 “Avatar: The Way of Water” ranks third, just behind Marvel’s 2019 “Avengers: Endgame” movie ($2.8 billion).

Cameron, at 71 long an A-list Hollywood director, is rightly praised for his kinetic action sequences, formidable females and a rare ability to know he’s right when everyone else is telling him he’s wrong.

His must-see classics – “The Terminator,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Aliens” and “Titanic” – are stark reminders that here is someone who can truly boast, “I did it my way.”

What’s clear in that list is how women lead the way, from Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor to Weaver’s mighty Ripley to Kate Winslet’s plucky Rose aboard that doomed ship.

What Cameron did with “Avatar” is package an old-fashioned, classic narrative of warring tribes in a new way. “Avatar” is set in the 22nd century on the moon Pandora where the Na’vi, the indigenous people, are threatened by the mechanized warrior colonizers.

A human – Sam Worthington’s wheelchair bound Jake Sully – with his Na’vi avatar, a warrior, has fallen in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). They make a life, raise a family in this bucolic world. Together they rise up to fight the marauders, led by Stephen Lang’s Col. Miles Quaritch.

Sigourney Weaver first worked with Cameron on “Aliens,” the first sequel to “Alien,” her star-making horror flick.  She is prominent in all three “Avatar” films but in a truly unique way.

The first “Avatar” has Weaver, now 76, as a human Xenobotanist, Dr. Grace Augustine. But in “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022) and this week’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” she plays Kiri, the teenage Na’vi daughter of Grace’s avatar.

That makes Kiri quite unique: A character born from Grace’s avatar, who possesses a special connection to Eywa, Pandora’s living world.

Cameron knows AI is controversial enough to be hated.  That’s why he introduces this third “Avatar” with a film short demonstrating the authenticity of all the non-human characters by using motion capture. Not AI.

The dramatic scenes have all been created by the actors via a technology dependent on their moves, their emotions. This technology – prominently used in “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogy – will continue to be used in Cameron’s planned final two installments.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” opens Friday

Kiri, performed by Sigourney Weaver, in a scene from “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” (20th Century Studios via AP)