Who is the real villain in Avatar 3?
Avatar 3, titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, expands the franchise’s moral complexity by sharing antagonistic focus between returning human antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch and a new Na’vi leader, Varang, which forces viewers to reconsider who the “real” villain is and why villainy matters in this world[1][3].
Avatar has always framed conflict around clashing value systems: the RDA’s exploitative, militarized extraction of Pandora’s resources versus the Na’vi’s spiritual, communal relationship with their land, and Fire and Ash complicates that frame by introducing internal Na’vi politics and evolving Quaritch’s role among Pandora’s peoples[1][3].
Why Quaritch still feels like a villain
– Personal vendetta and militarism make Quaritch immediately villainous: his long-running obsession with Jake Sully and willingness to use extreme violence against Na’vi civilians are consistent through the series, and those traits anchor him as an enduring antagonist[1].
– Resurrection as a recombinant body amplified his threat: bringing Quaritch back as a digital consciousness housed in a Na’vi-like body removes previous human limits and deepens the sense that he will stop at nothing to achieve his aims[1].
– The franchise still positions him as the overarching antagonist: press and commentary repeatedly identify Quaritch as the central villain across the films, so audience expectations frame him that way before Fire and Ash reveals more complexity[1].
Why Varang muddles the villain label
– Varang is introduced as a Na’vi leader with her own agenda, which means conflict in Fire and Ash is not simply humans versus Na’vi but also a struggle within Na’vi society over power, tradition, and alliances[1][2].
– Her presence forces moral ambiguity: when a leader of the indigenous people pursues goals that clash with Jake Sully’s family and allies, viewers must judge actions by motives and consequences rather than species alone[1][3].
– Shared antagonism can humanize or complicate both sides: by giving the Na’vi a leader who opposes the protagonists, the trilogy avoids a simplistic “good natives vs evil colonizers” binary and instead presents competing visions for Pandora’s future[3].
A shift from single villainy to distributed responsibility
– The films increasingly suggest that villainy is systemic: the RDA as an institution embodies extractive, dehumanizing priorities that create villains in personnel like Quaritch; focusing only on individuals misses the larger structures enabling harm.
– Sharing the antagonist role distributes culpability: when a Na’vi leader can act in ways that harm other Na’vi or humans, it highlights that bad outcomes arise from choices on multiple sides, not solely from an external oppressor[1][3].
So who is the “real” villain?
– If villainy is defined by personal cruelty and unrepentant violence, Colonel Miles Quaritch remains the clearest villainous figure due to his vendetta, militarism, and history of ordering or committing atrocities[1].
– If villainy is defined by narrative function—who opposes the protagonists at any given moment—then Varang shares that role in Fire and Ash, making villainy a role rather than a fixed identity[1][3].
– If villainy is understood systemically, the RDA’s extractive enterprise and the circumstances that produce conflict are the deeper villain: individuals like Quaritch and even conflicted Na’vi leaders are symptoms of a larger moral failure embedded in colonial extraction and resource wars[1].
What the franchise asks viewers to consider
– The trilogy invites viewers to weigh motives, methods, and systems: are actions rooted in self-defense, survival, greed, pride, or ideology? That moral sorting produces different answers about who is villainous.
– By complicating the enemy, Avatar: Fire and Ash aims to move the series from a straightforward revenge tale to a meditation on leadership, belonging, and the costs of violence[2][3].
Sources
https://www.cbr.com/avatars-quaritch-detail-hateable/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-P22aw3vhk
https://screenrant.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-varang-quaritch-relationship-explained-stephen-lang/
