Avatar: Fire & Ash's Returning Villain Is Having An Identity Crisis As James Cameron Hints At Shocking Alliance

Avatar: Fire and Ash is about to truly complicate the story for the film’s returning villain, with James Cameron teasing a surprising new alliance. Following the success of 2022’s The Way of Water, the third installment in the Avatar franchise brings back a number of familiar faces, including Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Speaking with Empire, Cameron addresses what’s to come for Quaritch in Fire and Ash, promising a complicated thematic journey for the resurrected antagonist as he grapples with who he truly is. Lang’s character is starting to ask questions about himself, and Spider (Jack Champion) is at the center of this self-reflection:

“Quaritch is undergoing an identity crisis. His interest in the biological son of his biological precursor form is all about trying to define, ‘Am I a completely new person? Am I bound by the rules and the behaviours of the person whose memories and personality I was imprinted with?’ It’s a true existential dilemma for him in the philosophical sense.”

This self-reflection could lead to an interesting turning point, Cameron hints. “At what point does he cross that line and realise he’s more Na’vi than he is human?” the director asks.

A major part of Quaritch’s journey could involve a growing connection to Eywa, Pandora’s consciousness, Cameron says. “He could connect, he could plug in — Jake wants him to,” the director teases. “I don’t want to tell you where it goes, but we’re gonna see all this play out, because Jake would rather have this guy on side.”

An uneasy alliance between Jake and Quaritch, then, seemingly isn’t off the table in Fire and Ash as the two figures realize they may have aligning objectives. “It’s very uninteresting to just have two guys trying to kill each other for three movies, so it gets much snakier,” Cameron says. “Quaritch’s soul is very much in play in movie three.”

The latest teases from Cameron to Empire about the story of Avatar: Fire and Ash accompany two new images from the movie. One shows Jake, all bloodied up, dramatically reaching out for something (or someone), and the other shows Quaritch during a quiet moment. Check them out below:

Quaritch died during a climactic showdown with Jake during the first Avatar, but he returned in the sequel as a “recombinant,” a Na’vi body that’s been imprinted with Quaritch’s memories. Lang’s character very much remains a key villain in the follow-up, but the Avatar: The Way of Water ending suggests he feels genuine love for Spider, the human Quaritch’s biological son.

The Way of Water also features Quaritch undergoing a Na’vi rite of passage in the form of taming his own Ikran, and Spider even teaches him some of the Na’vi language. Fire and Ash trailers have teased an alliance between Quaritch and the antagonistic Ash People, but Cameron’s comments suggest there may be much more to Quaritch’s journey in the full film.

Quaritch’s evolution has major implications for the franchise moving forward. Avatar 4 and 5 are written and ready to go, and Cameron has suggested that whether they happen will depend on the success of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Assuming there is still audience demand for the hit sci-fi franchise, the fourth and fifth movies could feature a very different Quaritch.