Avatar 3 Features A Villain From The First Two Movies - But Didn't They Die?

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) will not be the narrator of "Avatar 3." Rather, his son Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) will take over this role, suggesting that James Cameron's flagship film franchise will diverge from some of the norms its first two entries established. However, "Avatar 3" is confirmed to retain at least one key component of both of its predecessors now that the actor behind a villain who appears to die in "Avatar: The Way of Water" has announced his return.

Matt Gerald, who plays main antagonist Colonel Quaritch's (Stephen Lang) close collaborator Lyle Wainfleet in both "Avatar" and "The Way of Water," posted an Instagram story confirming that he's working on "Avatar 3." Specifically, he shared a screenshot of his character in his Na'vi form and added the caption, "We back at it... A3 y'all. Gonna be insane." While stories are temporary and the post is no longer public on Gerald's account, a screenshot of the post circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, courtesy of an Avatar fan account with the handle @recomgarbage.

Wainfleet debuts in the first "Avatar" and is killed in the battle at the film's climax. His memories are then implanted into a Na'vi body in "The Way of Water," and Jake defeats this new version of his character by throwing him off of a ship into open water. However, his death is never actually confirmed, laying the ground for his return even if his survival might seem unlikely.

Colonel Quaritch — also dead at the end of "Avatar," and effectively revived when he becomes a Na'vi Recombinant — suffers a handy defeat at the end of "Avatar: The Way of Water." In fact, save for Lyle Wainfleet, every member of his squad of Na'vi Recombinants is confirmed dead by the end of the second Avatar film. Quaritch himself, however, survives.

In a 2017 interview with Empire, about two-thirds of the way between the first and second Avatar movies, James Cameron announced that Quartich will remain his franchise's main antagonist through all five planned entries. "The Way of Water," notably, establishes a complex relationship between the colonel and his benevolent son Spider (Jack Champion), which should color his character moving forward.

That said, the confirmation that Matt Gerald's Wainfleet is returning in "Avatar 3" provides some further insight into Quartich's expected character arc. Wainfleet — lacking any sort of familial connection to his Na'vi enemies — will likely serve as Spider's opposite, pulling Quaritch away from the human compassion he feels for his son and urging him toward violence.