Now that Avatar: Fire and Ash is in theaters, Stephen Lang revealed how his villain, Colonel Miles Quaritch, and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) are two sides of the same coin.
Fire and Ash is James Cameron’s third movie in the Avatar franchise, and the war between the Resources Development Administration and the Na’vi explodes even further across Pandora. The humans have expanded their base of operations with the intent of fully colonizing the planet, and the company also ramps up its Tulkun hunting expeditions.
While the threequel involves a number of subplots, including Sigourney Weaver’s Kiri exploring her powers further, the brutal dynamic between Sully and Quaritch steals the spotlight as they become more alike than ever before.
Quaritch even takes a leaf out of Sully’s book and starts working with a terrifying Na’vi clan, called the Mangkwan people. They’re led by Verang (Oona Chaplin), and the unlikely duo become a force to be reckoned with, combining Na’vi ferocity with RDA weaponry. Dexerto spoke to Lang ahead of the film’s release, and he opened up further about Quaritch and Sully being more alike than they’d like to admit.
Stephen Lang makes sure his “punches are strong” while playing Quaritch
According to Lang, both Quaritch and Sully have always been very similar, but they’re only starting to realize that themselves by the third movie.
“I don’t know that it’s an exact sort of match, heads and tails, but they certainly do mirror each other. This is not something I think they would actually even recognize back in the day, let alone admit to,” he explained. “But I think as the saga progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that they’re very, very much alike in many respects.”
To put it plainly, Quaritch and his relationship with Varang clearly mirrors the way Sully and Neytiri fell for one another in the first movie. But while that relationship was born out of their mutual respect for one another, and Pandora, both Quaritch and Varang are using each other to achieve their own goals.
Thankfully, this ruthless war they’re both locked into doesn’t extend into the real world, as Lang assured us that he and Sam Worthington have a “good, respectful relationship and we try to take care of each other.”
Although Lang still makes sure to bring the fire when it comes to their numerous fight scenes throughout the franchise.
“I want to make sure my punches are strong, but that I don’t connect with his jaw, you know what I mean? There’s a lot of material challenges you need to meet when you’re doing physical work like that.”
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