Tom Sully

Tom Sully
Film (A1; 2148)
Biographical Information
Aliases	Tommy (by Jake) Sully, T. (ISV Venture Star locker and AVTR backpack nametag)
Born	August 24, 2126
Died	2148
Age	22
Status	Deceased †
Lives in	Earth
Physical Description
Species	Human
Gender	Male ♂
Height	5' 9" (actor height)
Skin color	White
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Family Information
Family members	Jake Sully (twin brother) Neytiri (sister-in-law) Miles Socorro (adoptive older nephew) Neteyam (older nephew) † Kiri (adoptive older niece) Lo'ak (younger nephew) Tuktirey (younger niece)
Chronological Information
Occupation	Avatar driver (research scientist)
Affiliations	RDA SciOps (Avatar Program)
Behind the Scenes
Portrayed by	Sam Worthington
First seen	Project 880
Last seen	Avatar: The Next Shadow

Doctor Tom Sully, nicknamed Tommy by Jake Sully, was the late twin brother of Jake Sully. Tom was supposed to participate in the Avatar Program on Pandora, having undergone much training. He met and befriended Norm Spellman during these courses.

Biography

Avatar

On Pandora, Dr. Grace Augustine was looking forward to working with Tom, as she needed a capable researcher like him on her team; Tom was a scientist with a PhD who had trained for three years for this mission, indicating that Tom joined the Avatar Program sometime around the year 2145.

Unfortunately, a week before Tom was going to ship out in 2148 he was killed by a robber who attempted to steal his wallet for some cash. As a result of his death, the RDA sought out his genetically identical twin brother Jake due to the significant investment the company had made in creating an avatar for Tom.

Tom's body was transported to the Municipal Crematorium, where Jake witnessed his brother's body being covered with black plastic inside a brown cardboard box for a hasty cremation. While there, Jake was offered Tom's same 6-year-long contract in order to replace him in the Avatar Program.

Due to the short amount of time between Tom's death and the departure of the ISV Venture Star, some things still contained Tom's first initial on them, such as his locker on the ship.

When Jake arrived in Tom's stead at Hell's Gate on May 19, 2154, he first meets Norm Spellman. Norm is surprised at how Jake looks just like Tom, as Norm went through Avatar training with Tom. Moments later when Jake first sees Tom's avatar at Hell's Gate, he comments on how big it has gotten since leaving Earth and at how the avatar looks like Tom. Norm then replies that the avatar looks like Jake and that the avatar is now Jake's.

Shortly after, when in the Link Room, Norm and Jake meet Grace. When Jake is introduced, Grace becomes upset and angry as apparently she wasn't told of Tom's death (until Jake mentioned it to her); seemingly finding out at last minute of this switch. Grace initially believed that Parker Selfridge intentionally switched Tom (a scientist; something Grace needs) out for Jake (a Marine; something Grace holds great amounts of contempt for) to intentionally screw with her program.

Avatar: Brothers

After Jake bonds with the Toruk, Jake tells the Toruk about his twin brother Tommy and a story about Jake's own favorite great hero Alexander the Great; which helps to persuade the Toruk to become Jake's partner to fight against the RDA. Jake described Tom looking just like him (as they were twins from the same egg) yet only different in personality, as Tom was the smart one always studying in comparison to Jake who was more of the outgoing type. Tom loved books, science, and math ("-- He loved it all"). One thing both Jake and Tom loved was Tom's book of stories called "Myths and Legends About the Great Heroes of Earth"; Tom's favorite ancient Greek hero was Bellerophon, a story Jake also recounts to the Toruk.

Avatar: The Next Shadow

"Tom" blaming Jake for the deaths of Jake's loved ones.

In Issue 3 of Avatar: The Next Shadow, Jake suffers from being poisoned via cut from a tampered blade during a dispute resulting in him experiencing nightmarish mental imagery. A vision of a ghostly Tom in cremation, or perhaps a dream aspect manifested from Jake's guilt, appears in Jake's mind. This burning Tom blames Jake, claiming his actions only bring suffering and lead others to their deaths.

Trivia

Avatar

• The number on Tom's cardboard cremation box is: 976323.
• In the extended version of the scene seen in the Collector's Edition, a continuity error occurs in which the actor that plays Tom's body changes from Sam Worthington (at 00:04:07) to an obvious stand-in (at 00:04:18).
• On the Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star, it can be seen that Jake's locker reads "Sully, T." since Tom was the one intended to go to Pandora.
• In a deleted extended scene titled Scenes 36A-37 "You're in My World Now", Jake is seen having just used a marker to modify the first name initial on the nametag of his AVTR backpack from a "T." for Tom into a "J." for Jake.

Project 880

• Tom's full name is revealed to be Thomas Sully. This name did not make it into the final production.
• Tom signed an NDA regarding the Avatar Program, with Jake only knowing Tom had work to do in space.

Project 880 / Avatar Comparisons

Relationship with Jake

• In Project 880, it is mentioned Jake and Tom "weren't that close".
• In Avatar, Jake does not cry or seem to feel that emotional when he views his brother's deceased body.

Avatar Program

• In Project 880, Tom had been working with the Avatar Program for the last year prior to his death. He signed a ten year contract and his viable avatar embryo had been growing in the lab for several months (the investment valuing at over $20 million dollars).
• In Avatar, Tom had been training with the Avatar Program (alongside Norm Spellman) for three years prior to his death. The growth and value of Tom's embryo are not disclosed. The contract Jake receives is only for six years instead.

Death and Cremation

• In Project 880, Tom dies from breathing in the fumes when a subway caught on fire in Boston. Meanwhile, Jake lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tom dies three weeks before the next mission to Pandora was scheduled to leave from Earth. Jake gets a call from a computer at the municipal admin complex and is told via a polite automated voice message about his brother's death (as a victim of the news story Jake saw earlier about the fire) and was required to claim the body by 1200 the next day at the Boston municipal crematorium.
• In Avatar, Tom died a week before he was scheduled to ship out for Pandora. He was murdered via being mugged by a man for the paper in his wallet. The murder weapon however differs depending on the version of the film. In the theatrical release and the extended re-release, Tom was said to have been killed by a gunshot, while in the Extended Collector's Edition, Jake said that Tom's killer used a knife. Jake finds out about his brother's death by two men in suits. As seen in the Extended Collector's Edition, the suits find Jake laying in an alleyway puddle after being tossed out from the rear service door of a bar. The suits then transport Jake to Tom's body at a large crematorium, arriving seemingly moments before the body was set to be burned. As the suits try to convince Jake to take over Tom's contract, Jake signs a form (likely a consent form to release the body for cremation and or also possibly confirming his positive identification of the body) and Tom's body is then pushed into the furnace, door shut, and subsequently burned as Jake spectates from the other side of the door's glass window.

Other

• The name Tom means "twin" and Tom was Jake's twin brother.
• More about Tom's life and his murder were supposed to be explored in a prequel novel written by James Cameron.

Gallery

Tom's cremation.

Tom's cremation.

Tom's cremation.

Appearances

Title	Format	Release date	Details
Project 880	Film script	1995 (written)	As Thomas Sully.
Avatar	Film	December 18, 2009
Avatar: Brothers	Comic book	May 6, 2017
Avatar: The Next Shadow	Comic book	January 6, 2021