Avatar director James Cameron says that actor Stephen Lang, who played the villain in Avatar, will be returning for the next three sequels.

Despite the fact that actor Stephen Lang’s Colonel Miles Quaritch character seemingly died due to a few gigantic arrows to the chest in Avatar, director James Cameron (pictured left) plans on bringing the character back for all three of the sequels.

Deadline reports that Stephen Lang will return as some sort of mix between Star War’s Darth Vader and a Terminator (which Cameron directed).

We’re not quite sure how the character will be returning from his death, but it seems James Cameron has some interesting ideas for the character’s future.

James says, “Stephen was so memorable in the first film, we’re privileged to have him back. I’m not going to say exactly HOW we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all.”

He explains that, “his character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor.” He also notes that the two have become close friends, so we’re happy to see them working together again.

Avatar’s sequels are still somewhat of a mystery and while we know Cameron has been doing a lot of work during pre-production for the next three films, we’ve learned that he plans to create at least one film which may take place underwater.

Stephen Lang’s character was a fan favorite in Avatar, so we imagine he felt like bringing his character back was a nice way to keep fans interested in characters they had become invested in.

We’re definitely interested in finding out how he comes back to life and if his character will be the main villain for any of the next three films. Stephen Lang will be rejoining actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana who will be playing the lead roles in at least Avatar’s first sequel.

The first Avatar was a massive success, pulling in $2.78 billion worldwide at the box office, and jumpstarted the current 3D madness (sigh). We imagine the only film that’s capable of knocking Avatar off its #1 spot is one of its sequels.

Avatar 2, written by War of the Worlds’ screenwriter Josh Friedman will be released December 2016. Avatar 3, penned by Rise of Planet of The Apes’ Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, will open December 2017. Avatar 4, with Shane Salerno on script duty, will arrive December 2018.