The Ending Of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom Explained

Contains spoilers for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom"

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is here at last, ringing out the final echoes of the Zack Snyder era of DC Comics-based films and seemingly bringing the 10-year DC Extended Universe project to a rather underwhelming close. In the sequel to his 2018 surprise hit, director James Wan reunites with much of the cast from the original — including Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — for another underwater sci-fi epic of royal intrigue, terrifying monsters, and plenty of Guinness.

In the wake of Arthur Curry's latest quest, he and his family have changed the world in ways that can't be undone — well, except by a few pen-strokes from James Gunn, of course. And yet, though the cinematic tide seems destined to come in and wash away everything the past two "Aquaman" films have accomplished, Momoa and Wan haven't closed the door on a third outing just yet. If they do get a chance to dive back into these admittedly murky waters, they certainly have quite a cliffhanger to revisit.

Following his defeat at the hands of Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in the first film, David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is hellbent on repairing his Black Manta armor so that he may exact his revenge on the King of Atlantis. Fortunately — and with the help of marine biologist Dr. Stephen Shin (Randall Park) — he uncovers the Lost Kingdom of Necrus, frozen for eternity in the Arctic by King Atlan (Vincent Regan). Imbued with superhuman physical abilities by a cursed black trident belonging to Necrus' wicked ruler and Atlan's brother, King Kordax (Pilou Asbæk), Kane sets out to free the forces of the Lost Kingdom and earn the power to kill Arthur Curry and his entire family.

He begins his quest by stealing and then burning an ancient, environmentally destructive power source known as Orichalcum, emitting unparalleled amounts of greenhouse gasses that expedite climate change and melting the Lost Kingdom of Necrus out of its Arctic prison. Arthur — who has sired a son with his wife, Queen Mera (Amber Heard), since "Aquaman" — becomes aware of Kane's plan after he attacks Atlantis, and breaks disgraced former Ocean Master Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson) out of a desert prison to help track down and stop Black Manta. By the time they're able to break into his facility and learn of his full plans, it's too late — Manta has destroyed Arthur's home, critically wounded his human father (Temuera Morrison), and stolen his infant son.

To reverse King Atlan's spell and free Kordax, Kane needs the blood of Atlan's family. Before he can sacrifice Arthur's son, however, Arthur and Orm — reunited with Mera, Atlanna the Queen Mother (Nicole Kidman), King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren), the Brine King (John Rhys-Davies), and the forces of their respective realms — lay siege to the newly melted Necrus. During their final battle, Orm intercepts the cursed trident before it can kill Mera, freeing Kane from its influence and leaving him decisively unmatched against Arthur.

The spirit of Kordax uses Orm's hatred and resentment of Arthur to corrupt him, and — now imbued with the trident's power — Orm overpowers Arthur and bloodies him on the sacrificial altar. As the ice imprisoning Kordax melts, Arthur and Orm wrestle for the trident, its influence exploiting their negative feelings for one another. Arthur overcomes this by focusing on the memory of when he first met Orm, and how happy he was to finally have a brother. He then confesses these feelings to Orm, their newfound familial bond breaking the trident's hold over Orm long enough for him to let go and allow Arthur to hurl the trident at Kordax. Though Kordax initially stops the trident before it impales him, Arthur uses his own trident to destroy it and Kordax himself.

Later, Orm is set free by those present, who promise to presume him dead so that he may live a quiet life among humans. In the weeks that follow, Arthur reveals Atlantis' existence to the surface world, secures representation within the United Nations, and urges the world to unite to reverse the effect of the ongoing climate crisis.

If the first "Aquaman" was the DCEU's "Black Panther," then "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is without question its "Thor: The Dark World" (Arthur even jokingly refers to Orm as "Loki" at one point during the film). Like the infamously derided Marvel sequel, "The Lost Kingdom" uses the larger conflict between two realms — one enjoying comfortable hegemony, the other long since trapped and hidden away — to mirror and ultimately reconcile a similar interpersonal conflict at the heart of the story.

"The Lost Kingdom" is a bit more transparent in this regard, with Orm and Arthur's fractured brotherhood being nearly identical to Kordax and Atlan's. Though the film's script arguably fails to dive deep enough into the similarities and differences in these relationships to take full advantage of them, it could be inferred that Arthur achieves victory in the end because he — unlike Atlan — is able to find unity with his brother. Orm hints as much during his encouraging farewell to Arthur, in which he admits that Arthur's willingness to seek help from and cooperate with others make him better fit for the throne.

Had Arthur given in to Kordax's influence and chosen to fight Orm for the trident, he would have either been overpowered by Kordax and Orm's combined strength or corrupted by the trident himself. Only by winning Orm's brotherhood is he able to achieve lasting peace by eradicating Kordax and the Necrus hordes.

The majority of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" can be read as a blatant allegorical plea for global unity in the face of the existential climate crisis. James Wan uses the titular lost kingdom of Necrus as a well-meaning (if somewhat clunky) metaphor for the impending threat, with characters regularly and explicitly name-dropping buzzy concepts like climate change, greenhouse gasses, and melting ice caps. But Kordax and the monsters of Necrus can only be stopped by one thing: complete political cooperation.

Just as no one nation can stop the climate crisis, Arthur is unable to defeat Kordax and Black Manta without help from his allies and enemies alike. A crucial part of his journey is rebuilding his relationship with Orm, a man whose greatest weakness as a leader was his desire to destroy his enemies rather than work with them. Meanwhile, the governing council of Atlantis — who gave Orm war powers and the title of Ocean Master in the last film — have taken a staunchly isolationist stance in the face of environmental annihilation. Arthur must ultimately work around them to reveal Atlantis' existence and help lead the fight against climate change.

Like many humans who have spent the better part of their lives watching politicians ignore the ever-growing climate disaster in favor of personal economic and political interests, Wan seems anxious about what the future holds should we continue down our current path. At the same time, his film paints a hopeful, aspirational picture of what the world could accomplish if we worked together in the face of this threat.

Aside from Jason Momoa's cameo in the post-credits scene of "The Flash" earlier this year, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" has basically no connection to the wider DC Extended Universe. Though its final moments tease a new status quo for the world at large, there's absolutely nothing to imply that this world is the same one inhabited by any iteration of the Justice League — not even Zack Snyder's — except for the tenuous connection of Momoa having played the same character in a few films outside of this one. As a duology, James Wan's "Aquaman" films essentially stand on their own.

"The Lost Kingdom" is widely being heralded as the end of the DCEU, as it's the final DC project starring a member of Snyder's "Justice League" cast and the last before James Gunn launches his DC Universe with "Superman: Legacy." A cursory read of the room at DC and Warner Bros. pretty clearly imparts that Gunn and the studio want a fresh start, barring any runaway box office hits they think they can still profit from — and despite being a sequel to the highest grossing DCEU outing, "The Lost Kingdom" is currently tracking to bomb even harder at the box office than "The Marvels" did. In short, there's essentially nothing in or outside of the film that leads one to believe a meaningful future awaits this series. Even so, Momoa and Wan are keeping their minds open about the possibility of a third installment.

In the weeks leading up to the release of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," the elephant fish in the aquarium has been whether or not the film would end James Wan and Jason Momoa's time under the sea. While nobody expected either of them to come out and say it was the definitive end (which would be like announcing a TV series is canceled weeks before a new season airs), it's still a bit surprising to hear them talk about the potential for more stories in this continuity.

For Wan's part, he seems to be treating his films as their own, isolated universe that could theoretically be integrated into James Gunn's future DC plans. As he explained to Above the Line, he sees his two films as "[taking] place in this fantasy world that [is] not part of the greater DC Universe," and thus not beholden to any continuity past, present, or future. Wan even appears cautiously optimistic about a third installment, outlining to Entertainment Weekly his general hopes for Arthur's character arc "if and when" a third film is made.

Momoa seems significantly more dubious about his future as Aquaman (possibly due to the rumors that he may be recast as Lobo in Gunn's new universe). Though he told Entertainment Tonight that the film's success could earn him another outing and that he is in no hurry to leave the character behind, the likelihood of this version of Aquaman somehow persisting in the new universe is "not looking too good." 

For a certain period of time before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the DC Universe at Warner Bros., it seemed as though the studio was prepping for a soft "Flashpoint" reboot centered around Michael Keaton's Batman. The actor, who reprised the role in this year's "The Flash," was also set to do so in the canceled HBO Max "Batgirl" film, and reportedly shot cameo scenes for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom." (Presumably, this was planned before "The Flash" decided to include George Clooney as Bruce Wayne, effectively erasing Keaton's Batman from existence).

However, when the release date for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" was (briefly) moved ahead of "The Flash," Keaton's presence was rendered apocryphal (Warners even reportedly held test screenings of "The Lost Kingdom" that included Keaton, after which audiences were confused without the context of his return in "The Flash"). He was then replaced with Jason Momoa's usual Batman, Ben Affleck — although he too was ultimately cut from the film, as Gunn and Safran wanted to avoid making promises of future films they had no intention of making, or of maintaining continuities they had no intention of maintaining.