Avatar 2 & 3 Don’t Work Without Divisive Character, James Cameron Explains

Avatar: Fire and Ash’s most important character was nearly written out of the sequels before James Cameron decided against it.

What did James Cameron say about Spider’s role in Avatar 2 & 3

In Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron introduced audiences to Miles “Spider” Socorro, played by Jack Champion. Born at the RDA’s base on Pandora, Spider is the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). After Quaritch’s death, Spider remained on Pandora, becoming the adopted son of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).

During the writing of The Way of Water, Cameron nearly removed Spider for logistical reasons. However, Cameron knew he needed another element to fuel the rivalry between Jake and Quaritch.

“We knew it was gonna be hard to shoot an actor in live action and surround that character [Spider] with all these people that are twice his size [in performance-capture suits],” Cameron said in an interview with EW. “I knew it was gonna be all kinds of scale stuff and it was gonna be horrific to do, which it was. I tried to write him out, and it didn’t work. It all fell apart because now Jake and Quaritch are only just two guys trying to kill each other. It’s too simple.”

Spider is now caught between his adopted father, Jake, and his biological father, Quaritch. Spider’s decision to save Quaritch at the end of The Way of Water was extremely divisive with fans. It’s an interesting dilemma for Spider — his true father hates the family that adopted him. Spider is also a wedge between Jake and Quartich, as both men fight for his well-being.

“If they are entangled through this kid that Jake has raised, as Quaritch tries to define his identity as this reincarnation of a former person whose memories he’s imprinted with, part of his identity is as the father of this boy,” Cameron explained. “So it becomes important to him in his own identity quest to try to be that father. Now, Spider doesn’t want the enemy of the people that he loves to be his father. In movie 3, we see that dance, that father-son relationship continuing, but that puts Jake and Quaritch into an odd alliance.”

Check out Spider’s evolution as a character in Avatar: Fire and Ash, in theaters on December 19, 2025.

Originally reported by Dan Girolamo for SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net