'Avatar' villain to star in all four sequels, says James Cameron

Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch in 2009's "Avatar."Facebook/Avatar

James Cameron has finally divulged some details of the highly-anticipated sequels to his epic "Avatar" film from 2009. He revealed that the first movie's villain, Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, will be returning to all of the four upcoming sequels as the saga's main antagonist.

The news was revealed by Cameron in an interview with Empire magazine. He said that the "Avatar" sequels will pretty much have the same characters, but new settings and new creatures will be introduced in the upcoming installments. "I'm taking characters you know and putting them in unfamiliar places and moving them on this greater journey," he explained.

He added that not having a new villain every time is interesting. "He is so good and he just gets better. I know Stephen Lang is going to knock this out of the park," the award-winning director said.

Stephen Lang's Quaritch was a very menacing force throughout the first movie, terrorizing the native Na'vi population with his terrible machines and battle-hardened soldiers. However, during the climax, he takes two arrows to his chest and seemingly perishes.

His return, however, does not come as a surprise, as Sigourney Weaver's character, Dr. Grace Augustine, who died near the end of the first movie, is also returning.

Time will tell how Cameron is planning to bring him back and how he will become even stronger, but the relentless Colonel Quaritch will surely give protagonists Jake, played by Sam Worthington, and Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, a very difficult time in their fight to save the Na'vi's world, Pandora.

Cameron, the filmmaker behind the two highest-grossing films of all time, "Titanic" and "Avatar," is creating an epic saga to flesh out the world of Pandora with four "Avatar" sequels that he will be shooting back to back.

The second installment of the "Avatar" franchise will be released on Dec. 18, 2020. The third, fourth, and fifth films will be released in 2021, 2024 and 2025 respectively.