Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom Shares An Ending With An MCU Movie The following article contains spoilers for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” has finally hit theaters, and the DC Extended Universe is officially finished. Jason Momoa has wrapped up his very entertaining run as the man who can talk to fish, and while I don’t think this one lived up to the promise of the first “Aquaman,” Momoa (and Patrick Wilson as Orm) is a joy to watch, even when the film doesn’t work … which it often doesn’t. The mid-credits cockroach scene may feel indicative of the DCEU going out with a whimper (the DCU announcement should have been held until these films were out, but hindsight is 20/20), but it’s the ending that really fell flat for me. Part of the reason it just didn’t work is that we’ve seen this ending before — and what it led to — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At the end of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” Arthur Curry aka Aquaman and his super friends (sorry, I couldn’t resist) realize that they can no longer keep themselves and their civilization hidden from the surface world. They choose to reveal themselves, and everything seems rosy. Sharing technology, exchanges of ideas … maybe even what sort of hair conditioner they use underwater because most people’s hair would knot up into a rat’s nest the second they dove in. So, where have we seen that before? Oh, right. In “Black Panther.” Even Aquaman and Black Panther aren’t always great at politics Look, most people have some sympathy for Warner Bros. Pictures and the rest of the Hollywood machine that had to reshuffle their slates, pause and restart shooting, and mess with which films and shows come out in what order after the lockdown era of the pandemic. There were the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes, and everything is kind of a mess. Still, when you already have the other major superhero franchise showing you how this ends, maybe doing the same thing at the end of the DCEU isn’t the best idea. That said, this is more of an analysis because I think there is always going to be an asterisk next to the last few films in the DCEU. They had a lot working against them. Perhaps they just wanted to leave the DCEU with a message of hope. That’s great, but we know that hope is misplaced because … well, human nature. At the end of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the world opens up, as I said. It looks all hopeful and happy, with a future where they share things and work together to fix the planet and save it from climate change. That sounds really great and I so wish I had any belief left in human nature, but I think the past few years have pushed my needle towards the misanthropic side of things. Plus, all we have to do is look at the ending of “Black Panther” and the results of the decision to share their tech with the world to see how it inevitably goes. Maybe just let Topo run things from now on 2018’s “Black Panther” ends with the kingdom of Wakanda finally revealing to the world that they are no poor nation with limited technology. They are a powerful, advanced country with tech that the rest of the world can only dream of. Wakanda has vibranium, and that could change everything for the global society. However, human nature says that people will inevitably become corrupt (I apologize for my dark turn this close to the holidays), and as we see in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” once T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman) passes away and the country is left without a superhero protector, the rest of the world tries to get more vibranium from them, with some resorting to theft. Heck, even the new civilization underwater, ruled by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), is using its new alliance with Wakanda at the end of “Wakanda Forever” for his own purposes … taking over the surface world. Perhaps you’re not as cynical as I am. Maybe you believe in the power of love and all that. Maybe that’s the point of superhero films — making us believe in the goodness of people. It just seems like that issue was already tackled. I don’t know, maybe if we let Topo the drumming octopus run things, the world would be a better place. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is currently in theaters. Both “Black Panther” films are streaming on Disney+.
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