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Stephen Lang shares first Avatar 4 behind-the-scenes photo as filming gets underway

Avatar 3 may not be out yet, but cameras are already rolling on Avatar 4. Stephen Lang, who plays the villainous Miles Quaritch, gives us a first look behind the scenes.

By Daniel Roman

Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. /
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Avatar: The Way of Water launched an ambitious new chapter for Avatar, James Cameron's iconic science fiction movie series. If 20th Century Studios' parent company Disney has its way, it'll mark the beginning of an enormous mega-franchise with tons of installments to keep fans coming back for years. That seems to fit pretty well with what Cameron himself wants for the series; The Way of Water may be the most recent movie out in theaters, but Cameron has been pretty transparent about plans for another three.

The first Avatar movie came out all the way back in 2009; The Way of Water followed more than a decade later in 2022. But with Cameron and Disney powering forward on sequels, the wait won't be nearly as long for the next film. Avatar 3 and even part of Avatar 4 have already been filmed. As of this writing, Avatar 3 is deep into post-production and is slated to come out in theaters on December 19, 2025.

As for Avatar 4, the rest of filming is kicking off now. We know this both because lead actor Sam Worthington (Jake Sully) previously said that Avatar 4 would start filming in February...and because Stephen Lang (Miles Quaritch) just shared the first behind-the-scenes photo. Check it out:

"Deja Blu all over again," Lang wrote under a picture of his motion capture suit. The picture only shows his chest, which has the words "Slang" and "Quaritch" emblazoned on it. Above that there's a big patch with a design that combines a human and Na'vi skull, along with the words "Deja Blu," "We will tread on you," and "1st Recon." Obviously, we're taking these words as hints about what form Quaritch will take take in the sequels.

There are a few exciting things to note about this. Avatar: The Way of Water introduced a fascinating twist by bringing Quaritch — who died in the first movie — back in a Na'vi avatar body as a villain. Quaritch was the primary antagonist of the film, but near the end his life was saved by his son Spider (Jack Champion), potentially setting him up for a redemption arc.

Since Lang is suited up for Avatar 4, this probably confirms he'll survive through the third film as well. Quaritch could have a pretty huge journey by the time this series is over.

Avatar 4 is tentatively slated for a December 2029 release, which means the team has around five years to go. It's pretty wild to see that it's filming so far ahead, but given the huge amount of visual effects work necessary to create these movies, it's pretty understandable that Cameron and company would be getting an early start. We'll be spending a lot of time on Pandora in the years to come!

Next. atla. Every actor in Netflix’s Avatar: the Last Airbender remake (and who they’re playing). dark

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h/t Collider