Does Avatar 3 Blur Good and Evil With Quaritch?
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third movie in the series, Colonel Miles Quaritch starts to look less like a straight-up bad guy and more like someone caught between worlds. Fans have wondered if this blurs the lines between good and evil, and the film does push that idea by giving Quaritch new layers that make him harder to hate outright. He is still hunting Jake Sully with a grudge from the first two films, but now he teams up with the Ash People, a tough Na’vi clan led by Varang, and that changes everything.
Quaritch comes back in a Na’vi body after dying in the original Avatar. In The Way of Water, he got a bit of sympathy through his son Spider, but he stayed ruthless, driven by rage and seeing all Na’vi as enemies because of Jake’s betrayal. He even told Jake, “I took you under my wing. You betrayed me. You killed your own.” For more on how hateable he was back then, check out this piece from CBR: https://www.cbr.com/avatars-quaritch-detail-hateable/.
Things shift big time in Fire and Ash. Quaritch allies with Varang, played by Oona Chaplin, who leads the power-hungry Ash clan in their sulfurous home. At first, it seems like a deal for mutual gain in the hunt for Jake, but it grows into real respect. Stephen Lang, who plays Quaritch, called it a “chemical reaction” between kindred spirits. He feels at home in her warrior world, saying it is like a zone of conflict where he thrives. Lang told Digital Spy about this bond: https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a69805012/avatar-fire-ash-stephen-lang-quaritch-varang-relationship/.
This setup forces Quaritch to live among Na’vi more than before. He might even start using their names, like Varang’s, showing he is picking up their ways, just like Jake did when he went native. Screen Rant dives into how Pandora itself is changing Quaritch and Jake’s whole rivalry: https://screenrant.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-jake-sully-quartich-relationship-changed-explained/. His body is sleeker now, more Na’vi-like, and as Lang shared in a recent talk, that evolution makes him move differently too. Watch him discuss it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-P22aw3vhk.
Reviewers note this adds depth. One from Indy100 said Quaritch’s arc in Fire and Ash brings inner conflicts that make him more than just Jake’s nemesis, even if Varang steals the show as the real standout villain. Read their take: https://www.indy100.com/showbiz/avatar-fire-ash-review-need-to-know. Pandora’s influence, plus ties to his son and this new Na’vi crew, start to crack his old human soldier mindset. He is not turning fully good, but the film makes you question if evil is that simple when survival mixes loyalties.
Sources
https://www.cbr.com/avatars-quaritch-detail-hateable/
https://screenrant.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-jake-sully-quartich-relationship-changed-explained/
https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a69805012/avatar-fire-ash-stephen-lang-quaritch-varang-relationship/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-P22aw3vhk
https://www.indy100.com/showbiz/avatar-fire-ash-review-need-to-know
