| “ | Remember the story of Icarus, whose father gave him wings made of wax, and warned him not to fly too close to the sun. But the exhilaration was too great, so he flew higher and higher until the sun melted his wings and he fell into the sea. But the United States Army is not an irresponsible father. So they gave us wings of white-hot, cold-rolled Pennsylvania steel. Guaranteed not to melt. | „ |
| ~ Packard mentioning the tale of Icarus to his men. |
| “ | It's time to show Kong that man is king! | „ |
| ~ Packard's most famous quote. |
Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard, also simply known as Colonel Packard, and more shortly by his surname Packard, is the secondary antagonist of the 2017 action adventure film Kong: Skull Island, the second installment of the MonsterVerse franchise.
He is a veteran soldier who leads a military group, the Sky Devils Helicopter Squadron, to explore Skull Island, but later becomes obsessed with killing the island's guardian Kong out of revenge for the deaths of his comrades, becoming one of Kong's archenemies in the process. It is also revealed that Packard inadvertently awakened the Skullcrawlers after dropping bombs on the island as they would've wiped out the Iwi native population and other megafauna if Kong hadn't been able to stop them.
He was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, who also plays Gator Purify in Jungle Fever, Greg Meeker in White Sands, Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, Carl Lee Hailey in A Time to Kill, Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown, Elijah Price in Unbreakable and Glass, John Mills in Twisted, Frank Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Derrick Vann in The Man, Roland Cox in Jumper, Officer Abel Turner in Lakeview Terrace, Octopus in The Spirit, Stephen in Django Unchained, Chaney in Oldboy, Richmond Valentine in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Major Marquis Warren in The Hateful Eight, Mr. Barron in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Marcus Banks in Spiral: From the Book of Saw.
Biography[]
Kong: Skull Island[]
Call to Mission[]
Packard is stationed at Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam when he is contacted by William "Bill" Randa, a Monarch representative to be the military escort to an unexplored island in the South Pacific, Looking for an opportunity for action, he accepts the mission and prepares with his team.
Exploring Skull Island[]
After crossing the storm system surrounding Skull Island, Randa gives the Sky Devils the green light to use seismic bombs and map the island. This angers Kong and he destroys the helicopters. Packard becomes filled with anger as he watches Kong kill his comrades. After he regroups with the remaining soldiers, Packard confronts Randa at gunpoint to tell him everything he doesn't know. He then swears to not leave the island until he kills Kong and avenges his men.
The Search for Bombs[]
Packard heads towards the helicopter crash site that had the seismic bombs and where Maj. Jack Chapman is stranded. After a long walk in the jungle the soldiers are attacked by a Mother Longlegs, which kills one of the soldiers, and eventually manage to reunite with James Conrad, Mason Weaver and Lt. Hank Marlow.
The search party then enters the Valley of the Dead, where they were attacked by one of the Skullcrawlers. After they escape, Conrad confirms to Packard Chapman's death. Following an intense argument Packard resolves to continue search for the bombs with his team regardless to hunt down Kong.
Hunting Kong and Final Showdown[]
| “ | Give him a taste of that napalm! | „ |
| ~ Packard ordering his men to pour napalm into the lake. |
Once having the seismic bombs, he detonates them to attract Kong's attention, which in turn attracts Conrad and his friends. Kong wanders into a lake which had previously been filled with napalm by Packard and his men. Packard then sets fire to the lake, thus burning and injuring Kong, who falls unconscious on the ground, but not before killing Landsat employee Steve Woodward and another soldier. Packard lays explosive charges around Kong, and is about to detonate them when Conrad and his friends appear and confronts Packard telling him that there were more things to worry about and Kong was not the threat.
As the confrontation escalates, the largest of the Skullcrawlers, the Skull Devil, appears. At this point Packard's need for revenge has driven him insane, and his remaining men proceed to abandoned him as they realize Packard cares more for revenge than their safety. Conrad and the other survivors and soldiers flee from the Skull Devil, while Packard stays behind, remaining determined to finish off Kong (who has just awakened) in a suicide bombing so that he and Kong will die together. However, before he can detonate the explosives, Packard is crushed to death by Kong's fist.
Personality[]
Packard is sly, fearsome and obsessive; being intensely affectionate and loyal to his troops. He always jumps at a chance for another mission and thinks little of people like Mason Weaver, whom he felt cost America the war in Vietnam, where he was stationed.
He develops an insatiable desire for vengeance after the death of his men at Kong's hands in their first encounter. Though Kong attacked the helicopters when they started firing at him, and was trying to stop them from waking up the Skullcrawlers, Packard still sees him as an enemy and will not stop at anything to kill Kong, even when told otherwise. He willingly risks his men's safety to fulfill this desire for revenge, which eventually drives him to insanity and leads to his own literal (and somewhat well-deserved) death at Kong's hand.
Quotes[]
| “ | I am the cavalry. | „ |
| ~ Packard's famous line. |
| “ | Packard: This thing brought us down! It killed my men! Conrad: Kong was just defending his territory. Packard: We are soldiers! We do the dirty work, so that our families and our countrymen don't have to be afraid! They shouldn't even know a thing like this exists! |
„ |
| ~ Packard to Conrad, justifying his actions for attempting to kill Kong. |
| “ | Die, you motherf- | „ |
| ~ Packard's last words before being crushed to death by Kong's fist. |
Gallery[]
.jpg "Part 679 (I AM THE KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).jpg (93 KB)")
Trivia[]
- J.K. Simmons was originally attached to the film as Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard, but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Samuel L. Jackson replaced Simmons' role as Packard.
- Jackson compared his character Ahab from Moby Dick, stating, "He does have to exact some measure of revenge for the people he's lost. That's just the nature of how we operate—eye for an eye!". Packard's character is similar to Ahab, as they both similarly develop insanity combined with the desire to kill; though Ahab can be seen as being far more ruthless and cruel than Packard.
- Packard is the first human villain in the MonsterVerse franchise, followed by Alan Jonah, Emma Russell, Asher Jonah, Walter Simmons, Ren Serizawa and Maia Simmons.
- He is currently one of the many characters in the MonsterVerse portrayed by an actor with a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being played by Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury). The others are Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), John C. Reilly (Rhomann Dey), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen), Corey Hawkins (Navy Op), Vera Farmiga (Eleanor Bishop), Kurt Russell (Ego the Living Planet), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent), Jonathan Howard (Ian Boothby) and Bradley Whitford (John Flynn).
- His quote "Hold on to your butts!" as the helicopters traverse the storm is a direct reference to Samuel L. Jackson's line in Jurassic Park.
- Packard's death by getting crushed by Kong with his fist is similar to Lt. Col. Archie Nevitt's death from King Kong Lives.
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