The universe of the Avatar films is quickly expanding. The latest film, The Way of Water, adds to the franchise's lore a whole host of new creatures, characters, and ways of life. Possibly one of the most significant revelations introduced in the second film was that of Amrita, an amber-colored liquid secreted from the brains of the Tulkun. These whale-like species have a whole culture of their own, from arts to music to math and science. Amrita is thought to be the key to their intelligence and even possibly their link to the biosphere of Pandora, cultivated by their most sacred spirit Eywa. Amrita is, of course, worth a fortune, and is the reason that groups of Tulkun hunters have been increasing in numbers all along the ocean. They target and kill these majestic creatures for the serum that builds within them.
Amrita is said to be able to reverse the effects of human aging, and therefore prevent age-related illnesses. The human oppressors who seek to gain from Pandora’s wealth of resources believe that it could be the key to eternal life. As such, they are willing to stop at nothing to get their hands on it, as demonstrated by the brutal hunt of the mother and her calf in the second half of the movie. This likely would have happened to several more if Jake’s children hadn’t stepped in. By the sound of it, Amrita is a game-changer that can only mean more colonization, more brutality, and more death for the Na’vi people and their Tsaheylu brothers and sisters. So how will the discovery of this life-giving serum impact the later Avatar sequels?
It is clear that the Avatar sequels need stronger stories if they are going to continue to live up to the success of the first two films. But exactly what part the golden liquid will have in this is unclear. The first movie had its own equivalent of this expensive and rare resource, known as Unobtainium. This rock depository formed beneath the planet's surface, and most bountifully under the home-tree of Neytiri’s clan the Omatikaya. The first movie saw the terrible lengths of destruction that the humans were willing to go to in order to get their hands on the precious metal, as this too was worth a small fortune, and was being used to pay for all the research and technology on the Pandora expedition.
However, by the second movie, Unobtainium seems to have faded into the background, as there is no mention of the rare substance. This suggests that either Amirta has become the new target, and is worth far more money than the rock deposit ever was. Alternatively, perhaps the humans are still mining unobtanium off-screen, and audiences just aren’t aware of it because the Sully family has left the forest.
Unlike unobtamium, Amrita being labeled as a cure for aging seems like far too significant a premise to dismiss in the next sequel. Its potential suggests that it has a more important part to play in future storylines. There has already been talk of James Cameron's plans to bring the Na’vi to Earth in later sequels, so it is possible that this could have something to do with Amrita. Perhaps the humans will become so zealous in their attempts to get their hands on it that they will lay waste to too much of Pandora, and therefore the Na’vi will have to find a new home. Or perhaps the Na’vi will find a way of extracting Amrita without harming the Tulkun. In such a case, could they take the precious liquid to Jake’s home planet as a peace treaty, to avoid all-out war and the extinction of both races of people?
It is clear that there is no bargaining or reasoning with Miles Quatrich, the villain from the original Avatar. Seeing as the movies will have the same adversary in every sequel, it will be interesting to see if the movies can reach a point where the humans are no longer the bad guys. It remains to be seen whether Amrita will have something to do with that.
In fact, Cameron himself says that Avatar 3 will show the dark side of the Na’vi. Perhaps there will be certain clans that join forces with the villains, and who learn for themselves of the healing properties that Amrita can bring. We know so far that Avatar 3’s Ash People will have no connection to the water, or the creatures of the ocean, but will draw their power and their harmony with Eywa from the volcanic places of the world. We also know that they will be a more aggressive form of Na’vi, so this could be an opportunity for the audience’s first experience of Na’vi clans betraying one another, adding to the brutality that the humans bring. Either way, it seems like we haven’t heard the last of Amrita.