Introduction to Avatar 2 and the Return of Original Characters
Spider is a new character in Avatar 2, and he's a fascinating addition to James Cameron's franchise. Avatar: The Way of Water is Cameron's second film set in the mystical world of Pandora. The planet, the fauna, and the Na'vi clans of Avatar all return for a sequel released 13 years after the original took pop culture by storm with its mesmerizing 3D visuals and ahead-of-its-time VFX. Like the original movie, the sequel was a massive financial success, earning $2.3 billion at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Critically, Avatar the Way of Water received decent reviews with a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Spider (Jake Champion) shooting a bow and arrow with Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) in Avatar 2.
Avatar 2 takes place 16 years after the first movie and Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Salda\u00f1a) now have a family and are waging a guerrilla war against the RDA from the first movie, who continue to plunder the planet. When Jake takes his family to the safety of the seas and the Metkayina clan, many more original characters are introduced to the movie. Avatar 2 makes some creative choices with its characters, including resurrecting Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and replacing Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) with her daughter Kiri. Spider is another original character for Avatar 2, and he has a unique relationship with the returning characters.
Spider (Jake Champion) smiling next to Recombinants in Avatar 2.
The Story of Spider in Avatar 2
Miles 'Spider' Socorro is Quaritch's human son in Avatar 2. Spider lives on Pandora and is raised by the human scientists who work there. However, he associates more with the Na'vi culture. He wears Na'vi attire, practices their customs, and spends as much time as he can with Jake's family, essentially being a fourth child. Spider is captured by Quaritch who gets close to his son to learn the ways of the Na'vi. Spider, always an outsider as a human, is glad to have someone take interest in him and tells Quaritch about the Na'vi, unaware of his father's intent.
Once Spider realizes his father wants to kill Jake, he turns on him and the RDA. Though Spider saves Quaritch in the end, he refuses to join him and returns to his life with Jake and the Na'vi. Spider's story mirrors Jake's from Avatar. He is brought out of a culture he knows, the Na'vi, and into one that promises him a home, humanity and his father. Spider being pulled between two worlds offers a powerful internal conflict that runs throughout the film and is only solved at the end of the movie.
Jack Champion, who plays Spider in the Avatar 2 cast, went through a long audition process that began back in early 2017. He flew back and forth three times to L.A. between July and August for camera tests before he was told at the end of August that he had received the role. About his character, Champion says, 'Spider is a high-energy, tough, fun kid... I think I got to infuse some of my own light-heartedness and empathy into Spider. We both share a love of outdoors and tree climbing. The Sullys have mostly accepted Spider into their family, except for Neytiri. She has a more complex relationship with him as she sees him as one of the people that killed her family and destroyed their home. The rest of the Na’vi people also don’t entirely accept him. The younger generation is more accepting than the older generation is.'
Jack Champion's Ethan standing in a crime scene in Scream 6.
Jack Champion's Other Roles and Contributions
Jack Champion also starred in another major franchise film in the 2020s, Scream VI. Champion plays Ethan Landry in that film, a student at Blackmore University. Ethan is a significant character in the movie and shares the same powerful physicality as Spider in Avatar 2, which serves as important plot points in both movies. Champion also appears in Retribution with Liam Neeson as Zach Turner, and he has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role in Avengers: Endgame as a kid riding a bicycle.
