With only two weeks to go until Avatar: The Way of Water hits cinemas, one question has arisen. Who is the father of Miles “Spider” Socorro? While Jake Sully is his adoptive father, the teenage orphan plays a significant role in the upcoming film. Moreover, we’ve got a few hints about who Spider’s father might be. In our first post, we addressed Neytiri and Spider’s relationship.
We thought we’d dig into this more as we found a video by Avatar Theory that discusses this a bit. We have come to the same conclusion that Avatar Theory did and that Quaritch is Spider’s biological father. The reason we think this is because there are a few pieces of evidence that support this.
The first is that Spider and Quaritch share the same forename, Miles. Evidence number two is their association with Jake. Quaritch was Jake’s superior when he arrived on Pandora before Grace Augustine pulled Sully out and had the Avatar team relocate to the Hallelujah Mountains. Jake apparently adopted Spider when he was young, though it’s unclear when this happened.
Why Would Quaritch Go After The Sullys?
Also, Spider’s mother, Paz Socorro, was aligned with Quaritch and was killed in the assault on the Tree of Souls. Avatar Theory says there might be a custody battle if Quaritch becomes Spider’s father. It has been stated that Quaritch develops throughout The Way of Water. How this happens, we don’t know yet.
Another interesting point is that in a scene dropped on GMA; Jake mentions during an argument with Neytiri that something has happened to Spider and that Quaritch specifically targets their family. We guess that Spider was captured by the Recoms, which their former adversary leads. Outside of revenge, why else would he go after the Sullys?
Neytiri did kill his human body, first off. Jake also deserted the RDA for the Na’vi. In a real-life situation, abandoning the armed forces leads to a maximum penalty of dishonourable discharge. Moreover, in ancient times, specifically in Sparta, mothers threw roof tiles at their sons who deserted the army. In one case, a mother killed her son with said roof tile.
Another possible theory is that Quaritch ambushes the Sully kids and then takes Spider. Jake mentions in the scene that he had the kids “under his knife.” This might be a way of getting Spider to go with him, and then he could pull a Darth Vader with the whole “I am your father” spiel.
A Behind-The-Scenes Note About Spider
Spider’s first name wasn’t Miles when the film was in production. It was Javier. However, it was later changed for an unknown reason. It’s possible that the name change was done as a hint to Spider’s paternity. Or, it could have been an error on James Cameron’s part when he named the character.
Does Spider Know Who His Father Is?
It’s unclear if Spider knows who his father is. However, Avatar Theory said in his video that he was allegedly sent an audio clip from the film where the Sully kids are talking about their parents, and Spider starts getting defensive. It’s also implied that he never knew his biological father. There’s also a bit in the scene when Kiri tells him, “You are not him.”
Is this true? We have no clue and must wait until the movie comes out to see if this audio clip is real. We never talk about anything as factual unless we can see it with our own eyes or hear it ourselves. If it is accurate, this line could mean virtually anything. It would depend on the scene’s context and why the kids are talking about their parents in the first place.
Would Spider’s father’s identity be on his birth certificate? Possibly, unless Paz chose not to disclose it. If this is the case, then the only person who would know is her, and she’s dead. Moreover, her RDA file would like to have been sealed or deleted.
An Alternative Theory Or Three
Okay, let’s consider an alternative. What if Spider’s father isn’t Quaritch but someone else who is associated with the RDA? What if the man in question is Lyle Wainfleet? For those who don’t remember him, he was a gunner on Trudy Chacon’s Samson helicopter. He was killed during the Assault on the Tree of Souls by a hammerhead titanosphere when it rams his AMP suit and crushes him.
While his role wasn’t all that big in the first film, it was in the original script. It’s entirely possible that he fathered Paz’s son. However, there is no evidence to support this.
Finally, they may go down the boring route and make Spider’s father some random soldier. Another idea is that Paz was pregnant and put in cryo when she left Earth. She then delivered Miles on Pandora and named him after Miles Quaritch, her superior.
