Avatar 2, 3, 4, And 5 All Have The Same Villain, And It's An Unexpected One

Director James Cameron has revealed new details about the four long-awaited Avatar sequels, which are shooting back-to-back. Specifically, he told Empire about how the sequels will all have the same villain, but it's someone you might not expect.

[AVATAR SPOILERS FOLLOW BELOW]

Cameron told the magazine that Stephen Lang's Colonel Quatrich will be the villain for the four sequels. But, he died at the end of the first Avatar, didn't he? He took two massive Na'vi arrows to the chest at the end of that movie. But apparently he did not die, or perhaps he became a machine or a Na'vi by some means and lives on that way, as Empire suggests. We don't know, but according to Cameron, Quatrich is coming back.

"The interesting conceit of the Avatar sequels is it's pretty much the same characters," Cameron said (via EW). "There are new characters and a lot of new settings and creatures, so I'm taking characters you know and putting them in unfamiliar places and moving them on this greater journey. But it's not a whole bunch of new characters every time.

"There's not a new villain every time, which is interesting. Same guy. Same motherf**ker through all four movies. He is so good and he just gets better. I know Stephen Lang is gonna knock this out of the park."

As mentioned, all four Avatar sequels are shooting at the same time. This is probably a way to save money, as sets don't need to be taken down and rebuilt. But it sounds like a massive task all the same, to shoot four movies back-to-back. Such an undertaking is not new in Hollywood, as Peter Jackson shot the three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back.

Speaking about why he's shooting all four Avatar sequels at the same time, Cameron recalled a conversation he apparently had with Jackson. "I said 'It's your fault I'm doing this, motherf**ker!'" he said.

The first Avatar sequel is set to hit theaters on December 18, 2020, with the next ones arriving on December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024, and December 19, 2025. All four movies are being filmed at the same time, and production is now underway.

2009's Avatar stands as the highest-grossing movie in history, bringing in $2.78 billion at the global box office.

The Division developer Massive is making a new Avatar video game, and the just-announced Ubisoft Stockholm will contribute to its development.