“A damning indictment on DCEU’s legacy”: Aquaman 2 Gets Awful Response Amid Jason Momoa’s Potential Exit From DCU
Aquaman 2 has finally been released after years of anticipation. The movie starring Jason Momoa in the titular role is the last in the DC Extended Universe as DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran announced last year that the DC franchise will be rebooted under the label DC Universe.
DC movies have not been doing well lately following the lackluster performance of their movies. Directed by The Conjuring director James Wan, Aquaman 2 was expected to be DC Studios’ saving grace. However, that does not seem to be the case as critics claim the movie is not quite what they expected.
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Aquaman 2 Has Disappointed Critics
Aquaman 2 was one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year due to the huge fan following the superhero gained after the massive success of the first Aquaman movie. The first movie in this series had grossed $1 billion worldwide so the stakes were obviously high for the sequel.
In this sequel, Arthur Curry aka Aquaman teams up with his half-brother Orm (portrayed by Patrick Wilson) to stop Black Manta (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) from hurting his family and overheating the world with the cursed Black Trident. Amidst all of this, Arthur also searches for the lost seventh kingdom of the seas.
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Shortly after the release of the movie, critics’ reviews started pouring in and they were not very favorable. In her review of the movie, Independent‘s Clarisse Loughrey wrote:
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the latest entry in the rogues’ gallery of brainless franchise films. […] It’d be nice to say the franchise will be remembered for its occasional triumphs (it’s rare to find a comic book film as good as 2020’s Birds of Prey) but The Lost Kingdom speaks too fluently to its failures to not feel like a damning indictment on its legacy.”
Other publications like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline have similar opinions of the movie as they opined that the movie lacks the kind of depth that the first movie had. They also pointed out the other shortcomings of the movie.
What is Next for the Aquaman Films
With the upcoming reboot of the movie, the futures of a lot of the existing superheroes remain undetermined. While Henry Cavill’s Superman has been slashed off from the universe, there have been no official announcements regarding some of the other major superheroes’ fate including Aquaman.
When asked about it, Jason Momoa said that it was up to the audience with everything that has been happening lately. He told Entertainment Tonight:
“I don’t necessarily want it to be the end… [but] I don’t think it’s really, like, a choice. The truth of it is, I mean, if the audience loves it, then there’s a possibility. But right now, I’m like, ‘It’s not looking too good.'”
Considering the score of 4.8 out of 10 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, things are not looking too good for Momoa’s Aquaman. That being said, there have been rumors that Fast X star may appear as a different character in DCU. Hopefully, Aquaman 2 will perform better soon.
