The Real Reason Quaritch Crushes His Skull Sets Up A Big Avatar 3 Story

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Avatar: The Way of Water

Stephen Lang has revealed the real reason Quaritch crushes his skull in Avatar: The Way of Water, which could set up an important story for the soldier going into Avatar 3 and the subsequent Avatar sequels. Despite being killed by Neytiri at the end of 2009’s Avatar, Quaritch returned in The Way of Water using an avatar body as part of an elite RDA group who were chosen to become “recombinant” soldiers after their deaths. This started a new journey for Quaritch, who began to embrace Na’vi life, as well as being reintroduced to his biological son, Spider, after over a decade apart.

Quaritch spent Avatar: The Way of Water hunting Jake Sully with his team of avatar soldiers, and they came across familiar locations from the first film. One moment, in particular, featured Quaritch finding the site of his death in Avatar, the AMP suit adorned with the two arrows that Neytiri previously killed him with. His human form’s skeleton was inside, which the new-and-improved Quaritch crushed in his hand. This scene was pivotal to Quaritch’s new character development, and Stephen Lang has since revealed information that suggests it could become a significant scene across the Avatar franchise.

Quaritch Crushing His Human Body’s Skull Was Stephen Lang’s Idea

In an interview with Insider, Stephen Lang spoke about his experience working in motion capture technology for Avatar: The Way of Water and detailed the collaborative process between actors and visionary director James Cameron. Lang revealed that the scene which showed Quaritch crushing his former human skull was his idea, stating, “that was a scene that [he] suggested and recommended, and [James Cameron] liked the idea and understood it.” Nobody knows the characters better than the actors portraying them, so the fact that Lang suggested this poignant scene for The Way of Water makes it all the more powerful.

While explaining his reasoning behind including this memorable moment, Lang says, as well as being used to “advance the narrative,” Quaritch crushing his skull allowed him to “have an existential moment,” and “deepen the character.” These terms were unlikely to be used to describe the Colonel Quaritch portrayed in the original Avatar, where the character was shown to be not much more than a military grunt, so this acts as proof that the Avatar franchise’s Quaritch went through significant changes. These developments are exciting for the future of the character, as well as for the future of the Avatar franchise itself.

Avatar: The Way Of Water Delivers A Very Different Quaritch

Quaritch was perhaps the character who changed the most since his appearance in Avatar, and that’s not only in the physical change from a human to a recombinant avatar. In Avatar, Quaritch showed very little emotion aside from his overt anger and hatred for Pandora’s indigenous Na’vi and Jake Sully’s apparent betrayal. However, Avatar: The Way of Water increased his emotional range tenfold. Putting him in the body of his enemy was a remarkable first step, as he started to find an appreciation for life as a Na’vi warrior avatar, and was shown to embrace some of their traditions, such as bonding with an Ikran and learning the language.

Ironically, Avatar: The Way of Water delivered a much more human version of Quaritch than what viewers were introduced to in Avatar. This was also helped by the debut of Miles “Spider” Socorro, the human friend to Jake and Neytiri’s children, revealed to be Quaritch’s biological son. As Spider and the new Quaritch spent time together, they began to form a bond that audiences would have assumed was impossible for the version of Quaritch in Avatar. This will surely become important as the Avatar franchise develops with the releases of all three Avatar sequels.

Quaritch Could Be On A Redemption Arc In Avatar 3 (& Beyond)

A redemption arc is a possibility for Quaritch. Avatar 3 has been teased to feature the “Ash People,” a clan of Na’vi who will become adversaries to Avatar‘s Jake and Neytiri, as well as their kids, which might prove that even a villainous Quaritch could find a home on Pandora. Quaritch crushing his old skull and leaving his past life behind would make the perfect catalyst for a redemption storyline since he now fully inhabits and accepts his new body. Quaritch also found himself in a new body with allegiances in the Na’vi community since Spider chose to stay with Jake and Neytiri.

Avatar introduced a cartoon villain version of Quaritch. However, Avatar: The Way of Water added complexities and layers to the character that surprised many but could create internal conflict, which can lead him on some interesting journeys in the upcoming Avatar sequels. Jake was a military grunt at the start of Avatar, but his integration into Na’vi life forged him into a hero. The same might well happen to Quaritch.