The reason why Avatar isn’t your conventional superhero tale is given by James Cameron. As a franchise, Avatar follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and their family as they travel across the alien world of Pandora while outside conquerors attempt to take their territories and exploit its resources. Jake and Neytiri must choose whether to fight back and when to flee for their lives as Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) frantically tries to assassinate Jake while also attempting to damage Pandora’s natural ecology.
Avatar has frequently been compared to superhero movies because it came out in 2009, one year after Iron Man helped begin the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avatar, in contrast, is not like them, according to Cameron.
Avatar has a single central antagonist and story arc, which makes it far more consistent, according to Cameron in an interview with B TV. Avatar will make sure that it uses the same nemesis in every film, unlike certain superhero movies, such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which do keep the same enemy throughout two sequels. Here is a quotation from Cameron:
“It’s not like a superhero story where there’s a new villain with every film. Same guy, right? Same adversary through the whole thing. But how he evolves is also very interesting once we bring in additional adversaries as we go along. Additional adversaries and additional allies.”
The significance of Miles Quaritch as a villain in the Avatar series
Quaritch is a persistent antagonist that plagues the Na’vi, although he is usually most fascinating when he serves as a stand-in for mankind. While Quaritch stays deeply rooted in his Earthly roots and even goes so far as to steal his Na’vi-raised son, Spider (Jack Champion), from his adoptive parents, Sully, a former human, defects to the Na’vi and left his humanity behind. Their clash is intriguing because of the difference between the two characters, and it makes for a contentious battle since human fans are driven to root for the Na’vi against humans. Despite the fact that Quaritch’s Avatar is weaker than Sully’s, Quaritch is still a threat since he has the backing of the whole Earth while Sully is still struggling to bring the Na’vi together.
James Cameron’s views on superhero movies
DC Studios is now striving to restructure its production under its new co-heads, James Gunn and Peter Safran, while the MCU enters Phase 5 and continues its Multiverse Saga. Cameron has never been a fan of contemporary superhero blockbusters since he views them as repetitious and excessively masculine productions, despite the enthusiasm growing among both fan bases. As recently discovered concept art from Cameron’s unfinished Spider-Man demonstrates, the filmmaker wasn’t always against superhero films. In fact, he once expressed interest in helming his own Marvel production.
However, his criticism has occasionally shown to be relevant. Since few of the opponents in Marvel and DC films are genuinely interesting, and some of them even invite blatant derision, these films frequently suffer from a significant villain problem. Even if they commit terrible acts, villains who have been featured in several films may have developed personalities that make them more likable. Cameron frequently criticizes how women are portrayed in superhero movies since they are frequently relegated to supporting parts with little to no growth. He has even likened the women in Avatar: The Way of Water to the female characters in Marvel and DC comics. With Avatar, Cameron hopes to build the precise kind of franchise he wants to see in Hollywood. He has issues with superhero movies.