By Peter Martin
James Cameron’s Avatar was greatly enlivened by the presence of Stephen Lang (above). Millions of people saw the sci-fi adventure during its theatrical release and/or later on home video, but if you need a reminder, Lang portrayed Colonel Miles Quaritch, the leader of the military force on the planet Pandora.
Initially, Colonel Quaritch appears to be tough but fair. Eventually, though, he becomes quite a villainous character, never hesitating to kill anyone he views as a threat to his overall mission. After an epic battle with the heroic Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), he’s apparently left for dead.
Back in 2013, we heard that Lang had signed up for the three Avatar sequels planned at the time. Cameron said: “His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga.”
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The sequel plans have expanded to four installments and now director James Cameron confirms that Lang will appear in all of them. He tells Empire (via Collider): “The interesting conceit of the Avatar sequels is it’s pretty much the same characters. There are new characters and a lot of new settings and creatures, so I’m taking characters you know and putting them in unfamiliar places and moving them on this greater journey. But it’s not a whole bunch of new characters every time. There’s not a new villain every time, which is interesting. Same guy. Same motherf***** through all four movies.”
Cameron also credits director Peter Jackson for inspiration: “I said ‘It’s your fault I’m doing this, motherf*****!'” He recalls. “It’s one big story. But I would say a little bit different from The Lord Of The Rings, which you knew was a trilogy and that allowed you to accept a sort of truncated ending for movies one and two and then a fulfilment. This is a greater narrative broken up into four complete stories.”
The first of the four Avatar sequels is currently scheduled for release on December 18, 2020.
