Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: New Trailer Reaction

by

December 4, 2023

This December is the end of the DCEU, and who better to wrap things up than the superhero who outgrossed Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom stars Jason Momoa as a heroic king of a hidden realm, Patrick Wilson as his estranged half brother who he reluctantly teams up with, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a guy who wants revenge on the king and his realm, and other actors who are similar to the main cast of Thor: The Dark World.

I digress, but ever since the first film, DC has really leaned into the similarities between Aquaman and Thor. They both even have special weapons that are symbols of their status and heroism. Thor can’t talk to fish though, which is his biggest flaw.

Black Manta is back, complete with his own trident and a green ghost army at his command. Maybe he can let Aragorn borrow them when he needs to fight an army of orcs. He’s back for revenge, but what Manta needs the most is Aquaman’s young son, and he’s willing to do anything to get them. Even killing Temura Morrison, which is a God damned crime against humanity.

Overall, it looks like more of what made the last movie cool. I truly believe that Aquaman is the most visually creative of all of the DCEU films. James Wan, who made his name with horror films like Saw and The Conjuring, will hopefully be revered for his impact on superhero movies as well.

Unfortunately, I think there’s going to be one giant reason why people will skip this movie. After being a highlight of the first film, Amber Heard’s Mera is only going to be a negative aspect of the new movie. She doesn’t show up at all in this new trailer, and it’s no surprise why.

She made her bed and now she has to sleep in it, as they say.

Imagine if you will, a world where the DCEU wasn’t plagued with problematic actors and poorly reviewed films. 2023 wouldn’t be the end of the road for a flawed and mid-cinematic universe that only had a few real quality films in its catalog. It would instead be a year where Marvel would be genuinely scared by its competition.

DC comics are as good as Marvel comics, and both are special in their own way. There’s really no excuse for why the DCEU couldn’t have been as good as the MCU.

It really didn’t matter if any of the DCEU movies were good or not, because interest in Aquaman 2 would still be low due to this being the end of the DCEU. Nobody would be excited to finish a book that started poorly and only had a few chapters that were kind of good.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the end of the line. There is no endgame that wraps up a decade of thought out and well planned storytelling. Instead, the decade just ends, and a new era that is hopefully good for comics fans begins. After December 22nd, the DCEU will be sleeping with the fishes.