Fire And Ash Will ‘Deepen’ Quaritch And Spider’s Relationship

Having your dad be a bad guy must be rough. But what if your dad was a bad guy, then a dead guy, then a reborn-as-a-giant-blue-alien guy? And, after all that, still bad? It’s unenviable, to say the least. You have to feel sorry, then, for Spider – the human boy left behind on Pandora as a baby when the RDA left the verdant moon, instead raised by Jake Sully and Neytiri with their Na’vi family. In Avatar: The Way Of Water, Spider (Jack Champion) got the family reunion he never wished for when his father, Stephen Lang’s Miles Quaritch, returned in ‘recombinant’ Na’vi form, wreaking havoc on Jake and Neytiri’s clan – all leading to the death of our heroes’ eldest son, Neteyam.

Safe to say, it puts Spider in quite the predicament going forward – caught between his reborn biological dad, and the family that raised him. His dynamic with Quaritch 2.0 is set to become even more twisted in Avatar: Fire And Ash – seen together above in a world-exclusive still from the upcoming threequel.  “They reconnect out of necessity,” Stephen Lang, aka Slang, tells Empire. “Their connection is not a solo connection. There are times when everybody comes together on some level. But, when enemies cooperate, you can be sure betrayal is just around the corner.” Don’t expect smooth sailing going ahead, then.

Given how heartless Quaritch has been ever since the beginning of the Avatar saga, his unlikely parent status brings an entirely different dimension to the character. “Spider confuses Quaritch,” says Lang. “But Quaritch wants clarity. There is something about Spider that Quaritch really loves — not a word we associate with him. I think respect and admiration really develop in spades, as well as animosity and manipulation. The relationship will deepen — for better or worse.” Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Read Empire’s full Stephen Lang interview in the Tron: Ares issue, on sale Thursday 3 July. Pre-order a copy online here. The Path To Pandora continues every month in Empire – subscribe here to get the magazine every month and hear the latest Na’vi news. Avatar: Fire And Ash comes to UK cinemas from 19 December.