In the Avatar franchise, Colonel Miles Quaritch — portrayed by Stephen Lang — has taken a surprisingly complex path. Once the straightforward, chest-thumping military antagonist of the first movie, he was killed and later revived in The Way of Water as a Na’vi “recombinant,” carrying over the memories of his former self. Now, in the upcoming third film Fire and Ash, Quaritch is forced to confront what he has become — all while dealing with the complicated presence of his human son, Spider (Jack Champion).
Cameron explains that Quaritch’s fixation on Spider stems from his need to answer a fundamental question: “Am I a completely new individual, or am I still tied to the person whose memories were imprinted on me?” According to Cameron, the character is facing a philosophical, almost existential struggle.
This new version of Quaritch — call him Quaritch 2.0 — isn’t quite the same man audiences met in the first film. Gone is the one-note villain; in his Na’vi body, shades of uncertainty and internal conflict begin to surface. Cameron hints that the character could drift even further from humanity: “When does he realise he’s becoming more Na’vi than human?”
It even raises the question of whether Quaritch could eventually change sides, much like other memorable antagonists in Cameron’s filmography, including the Terminator. Cameron doesn’t reveal much but does tease that Quaritch may grow closer to Eywa, the guiding life force of Pandora. “He can connect — he could plug in. Jake wants that for him,” he says. “I’m not going to say where it leads, but you’re going to see the evolution, because Jake would rather have him as an ally.”
While a complete redemption may be unlikely, the filmmaker suggests that an uneasy truce between Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his former enemy may be on the horizon — especially with Jake doing everything he can to safeguard his family. “Watching the same two guys try to kill each other for three movies isn’t interesting,” Cameron notes. “Things get a lot more complicated. In the third film, Quaritch’s very soul is at stake.”
Watch the Trailer 2 here: