The first trailer for the highly anticipated Avatar sequel has dropped, and already fans have noticed the return of a villain who was thought to be dead.
Avatar: The Way of Water is set for release later this year, having been in the making for a whopping 13 years since the first film’s release.
While the teaser, released today (May 9), doesn’t reveal too much about the storyline, we are shown what appears to be one of the key villains, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) - only this time, he’s an avatar.
Before we get into it, let’s refresh your memory - the OG film takes us to the alien world of Pandora, where the highly evolved Na'vi live.
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Humans colonise the fictional paradise in order to mine the valuable mineral unobtanium, but in order to explore Pandora's biosphere, scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called avatars.
One such avatar is Jake (Sam Worthington) who, after falling in love with Na'vi Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), must battle for the survival of her world.
As the battle reaches its climax, Colonel Quaritch goes to slit the throat of Jake's avatar, only for Neytiri to step in and kill the human antagonist before he gets a chance.
Or at least, we thought he’d been killed - however, this all changed when producers revealed Lang is set to reprise his role in the sequel.
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And we might know how thanks to a Twitter user who shared side-by-side pics of the Colonel in the first film and an avatar in the trailer - as you’ll see, they both have the same eagle tattoos on their left arm.
Alongside the images, they wrote: “Well I knew Stephen Lang’s Colonel Miles Quaritch was coming back but I had no idea he was coming back as an Avatar soldier this time?!?... that’s pretty f**king awesome!! Wonder how they’ll do that??”
In response to the tweet, one person offered up their own theory on how the character is now a Na'vi-human hybrid, writing: “RDA most likely had stored some DNA from him (and who knows which other general) and used it to make an avatar that maybe doesn't need a human being connected to make the link.”
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Another said: “Possibly, & his character does mention the neurotoxin from the arrows so he could’ve used some antitoxin and waited out for medics ect. Excited to see how they bring the character and the RDA back and show it instead of him just showing up.”
Of course, Quaritch’s return isn’t the only reason fans are excited - despite the teaser being brief, the aqua-visuals are promising to be just as much of a feast for the eyes as its predecessor.
At CinemaCon, where the teaser was initially revealed, director James Cameron said: "[We're] pushing limits even farther with high frame rate, higher resolution 3D and greater reality in our visual effects.
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"I wanted our return to Pandora to be something really special. Every shot is designed for the biggest screen, highest resolution and most immersive 3D available. I think we pulled it off."
Avatar: The Way of Water is due for release on 16 December.
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Topics: Film and TV
Daisy Phillipson