Stephen Lang Talks Quaritch’s Return in the Avatar Sequels

Avatar 2 is still coming out. Really, this time. And though we still have to wait quite a while before we see any bit of footage, that hasn’t stopped actor Stephen Lang from discussing certain aspects of the film with various trades. In this case, Lang spoke with The National about, among other things, the difficulties involved with shooting all four sequels at once.

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For those unaware, Lang portrayed the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s 2009 film, and, according to numerous reports, will likely return in all four planned sequels as the main antagonist.

“I’ve given up trying to keep track. The whole thing gets a little confusing,” Lang said, but added that, “It’s very satisfying to know that the character was valued enough and made enough of an impression to [have Cameron] say ‘we’re not done with him yet’. That, initially, was kind of wonderful, to me. My job is really to advocate the role that I’m playing, and so it’s satisfying to have that much more time to discover Quaritch, find out what makes him tick, talk about him, and hopefully defy expectations that people have for the character, to create new expectations.”

It will certainly be interesting to see just how much story Cameron can conjure from these characters, particularly Quaritch.

The cast of the Avatar franchise includes Kate Winslet, Edie Falco, Michelle Yeoh, Vin Diesel, Jemaine Clement, and Oona Chaplin alongside a slate of young actors. Returning cast members include Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, Stephen Lang, Matt Gerald, and Sigourney Weaver.

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Cameron recently explained that Stephen Lang’s Colonel Miles Quaritch is coming back for all four sequels and will be the main villain throughout the story. Filming officially started on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 on September 25, 2017.

After some shuffling of the schedule, Avatar 2 has been pushed back a full year from December 18, 2020, to December 17, 2021. Avatar 3 has been pushed back two years December 17, 2021 to December 22, 2023. Avatar 4 will open two years after that on December 19, 2025 (originally December 20, 2024) and Avatar 5 will drop on December 17, 2027 (originally December 19, 2025). Although Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 will only be released with director James Cameron’s caveat that Avatar 2 and 3 are successful at the box office.