SPOILER WARNING: This text incorporates spoilers for “Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom,” now taking part in in theaters.
After 10 years, 16 films and a few disappointing evaluations and field workplace performances of late, the DC Prolonged Universe has formally come to an finish with “Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom.”
Jason Momoa stars as Aquaman for the seventh time in his profession, after two solo films, a “Justice League” team-up and a handful of cameos. His first standalone film, 2018’s “Aquaman,” defied expectations and ended up making $1.15 billion on the worldwide field workplace, the highest-grossing DC film ever.
However that is doubtless Momoa’s closing time suiting up as Aquaman. New DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are rebooting the DC universe with 2025’s “Superman: Legacy,” with plans to recast a lot of the main roles. There isn’t an “Aquaman” film on the DC slate they’ve revealed to date, that means “Misplaced Kingdom” is Momoa’s farewell for now.
If Gunn and Safran find yourself retaining any parts of the present DCEU, “Misplaced Kingdom” might have planted some seeds for the longer term. The primary main growth within the sequel is that Aquaman and his Atlantis queen Mera (Amber Heard) have a child, Arthur Jr., who displays a few of his dad and mom’ underwater powers. The hero’s dad duties are interrupted when a possessed Black Manta (Yahya Abdul Matteen II) resurfaces to trigger some world warming disasters with the traditional Black Trident artifact. Aquaman groups up together with his reformed brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to cease Black Manta from resurrecting the zombie military of Necrus, an historic, underwater kingdom misplaced to time. In the long run, the heroes are profitable, Black Manta dies and Aquaman reveals the existence of Atlantis to the United Nations, hoping the underwater civilization could be acknowledged as a sovereign nation.
Most superhero films these days use a post-credits scene to tease what’s coming subsequent for the franchise, however what occurs when the cinematic universe is coming to an finish? Within the case of “Aquaman 2” and the DCEU, the post-credits scene is…only a callback to an earlier joke.
Throughout their travels collectively, Aquaman tells Orm all in regards to the wonders of the floor world, like beer, greasy burgers and, as a joke, cockroaches. He makes Orm pattern a cockroach, and to his shock, Orm likes it. Within the mid-credits scene, Orm sits at a restaurant, orders a burger and provides a crunch cockroach to it. And with that closing scene, the DCEU involves an finish.
However is that this actually Momoa’s final position as a DC character? He reportedly held conferences with Gunn to debate a future within the new DC universe or taking part in a brand new character.
“I’ll at all times be Aquaman. Ain’t anybody coming in there and taking shit. There is likely to be another characters, too. I can play different issues, too. I could be humorous and savage and charming,” he mentioned.
There have since been fan rumors that Momoa ought to play Lobo, a buff, longhaired alien bounty hunter who occurs to share some resemblance with Momoa, however nothing has been confirmed. As this chapter of the DCEU closes, he’s been open to reprising his unique position that made him a family title.
“The reality of it’s, I imply, if the viewers loves [‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’], then there’s a chance. However proper now, I’m like, ‘It’s not wanting too good.’ I like this character and [I would want to] play it for a very long time,” Momoa mentioned. “I sort of see the place I might need it to go. And even within the subsequent 10 years or so, there’s quite a lot of cool issues they’ll do. And I do benefit from the position and the world. So, I imply, it simply comes right down to if individuals like it.”
