If you can recall, Miles Quaritch died in the initial Avatar film after being shot with Neytiri’s arrows twice in the heart. Though it is logically impossible to have survived that, given that the arrows weren’t in its average size, Stephen Lang is returning to the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.
Recently speaking with Empire, Lang opens up about his character’s return and the logic behind it despite witnessing Quaritch’s death in the first film. The actor continues to explain that Quaritch in the sequel is a ‘genetically-engineered autonomous avatar’ who has ‘downloaded’ the mind, emotions, and possibly, the spirit of his human form. Check out Lang’s full comment below:
“Now, that’s all pretty esoteric stuff. He comes with a full memory bank up until the time he actually undergoes the DNA transfer. So there are certain things that he doesn’t have any memory of at all. He has no memory of his death.”
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Interestingly, Lang notes that just because Quaritch has become a Na’vi does not remove the entire brutality and hatred he has towards them. While Quaritch may no longer have his memories of his death occurring, it is possible that his motivations stay the same. Read Stephen Lang’s comment from a Deadline interview below:
“I would say, ‘Do you think Miles has gone soft?’ I mean, the answer is ‘No.’ But I do think there are aspects that have been added to his makeup, put it that way, which are somewhat, maybe, confusing to him. Y’know, elements have been added that he’s not really used to at all. So, his constitution is not quite as doctrinarian and straight ahead as it used to be. There is — it’s not softness, but there’s some flexibility.”
James Cameron is off to a great start from the stellar first looks on his Avatar sequel. If this keeps up to its release date, Cameron is not far from his main goal of The Way of Water breaking a box office record.
Avatar: The Way of Water will hit theaters on December 16, 2022.
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