One of the more unusual things about James Cameron’s plans for the “Avatar” sequels has been the way much of the cast of the first film is returning to their roles, including Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang whose characters both died in the 2009 feature.

In particular it’s Lang’s return as Colonel Miles Quaritch that has raised eyebrows. Lang gave an excellent performance, but the character obviously met his maker. That he’s returning to play it again and serve as the villain for all four of the sequels though seems a little crazy.

A few years ago Cameron discussed it, saying the sequels don’t have a “whole bunch of new characters every time” and the interesting conceit is that it sticks to the familiar characters including Quaritch: “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.”

Lang himself, speaking with The National last week, said he was understandably surprised to learn in 2017 he was returning too and was grateful that Cameron wanted him to come back that much:

“It’s very satisfying to know that the character was valued enough and made enough of an impression to [have Cameron] say ‘we’re not done with him yet’. That, initially, was kind of wonderful, to me. My job is really to advocate the role that I’m playing, and so it’s satisfying to have that much more time to discover Quaritch, find out what makes him tick, talk about him, and hopefully defy expectations that people have for the character, to create new expectations. I’m working now with a much broader canvas than I was with the first Avatar, and it keeps me in concert with James Cameron to really go to town and examine the character in detail. That, to me, is totally tremendously satisfying and challenging. He has evolved, definitely. We’re making four more films, so if he doesn’t evolve, we’re in some kind of trouble. And it’s not always a question of evolution, it’s about becoming more deeply entrenched. I’m still discovering it. That’s something I’ll be discovering as we continue to work because we’re by no means near finished with this process.”

Cameron has four more “Avatar” films planned, with the second and third filmed at the same time. Those, however, will need to perform if a fourth and fifth film are to be released.