YMMV / Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

• Angst? What Angst?: Orm spends 4 years in an underground prison in Sahara, guarded by a species knows as Deserter Remnants. In those 4 years, he is isolated from any source of water, loses a lot of weight, is kept in a dirty cell with no facilities such as a bed or toilet, is tortured with electroshock, beaten by the Remnants possibly on a daily basis and no family member ever visits him. In other words, every basic human right is violated. One would expect him to be traumatized, angry, resentful for being sent there, but no. The scenes where Orm is tortured and beaten are treated as dark humor, and Orm never shows any sign of trauma or mental turmoil from the torture and beatings. In fact, Orm is quite offended for the rest of the movie because Arthur broke him out of prison.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Kordax is destroyed mere moments after finally escaping from his icy prison, without getting the chance to do anything.
• Anvilicious: The movie is not subtle with its Green Aesop about the dangers of climate change.
• Complete Monster: Kordax, younger brother of King Atlan, was the ruler of the seventh kingdom of Necrus. Exploiting Orichalcum to fuel his burgeoning kingdom, Kordax is implored by Atlan to cease doing so, as his actions are poisoning the Earth. Paranoid that Atlan will take his power away, Kordax forges a special Black Trident out of Orichalcum infused with dark magic and uses it to forcefully turn all of his own people into undead slaves, making himself into a Lich and waging war on Atlan before he is defeated and imprisoned by Atlan with his own blood. In the modern day, Kordax manipulates Black Manta after the latter acquires the Black Trident, having Manta begin burning Orichalcum to cause an environmental collapse, killing off thousands of people both on the surface and in the sea in order to weaken his prison. He then has Manta kidnap Arthur's son to try to sacrifice him in order to free Kordax's armies so he can once more ravage the world.
• Fandom Rivalry: With The Marvels (2023), which came out in theaters shortly before it, tying into the DCEU vs. Marvel Cinematic Universe rivalry. Both movies have underperformed, despite that they're both sequels to big box-office hits. But some sore MCU fans have bemoaned that The Marvels got more negative flak for it than Aquaman did from both the industry and the Internet at large, going as far as to blame misogyny for it as The Marvels has female leads unlike Aquaman which made slightly more money at the box office. Of course, this ignores that other female superhero movies like Wonder Woman as well as the first Captain Marvel movie were very successful and that the DCEU in general is way deeper in hot water financially, critically, and with the audience than the MCU is in general etc, particularly with the impending "DCU" reboot, so that many see piling on more DCEU misfortune as beating a dead horse, or just apathy doing more harm than any supposed antipathy.
• Fanfic Fuel: What adventures Orm would have, at sea or on land, after he became a Persona Non Grata in Atlantis.
• The Firefly Effect: Another victim (and presumably the last), like all previous DCEU movies released in 2023 (SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle), of the Continuity Reboot announcement by James Gunn in late 2022, which made it hard for audiences to get invested in what was left to release in that film series.
• Genius Bonus: Black Manta has been raiding Atlantean vaults around the world for an ancient fuel that they once used known as orichalcum. Though it's very different from how it's portrayed in the film, Orichalcum comes from the original Atlantis legends as written by Plato, a precious metal that they had exclusive access to and used to dominate much of the world before their civilization was destroyed; later additions to the Atlantean mythos often had it that orichalcum wasn't just a unique metal better than anything the Greeks, Egyptians, and so on had but basically a super-metal that powered technology beyond anything else on Earth.
• He's Just Hiding: Some fans wonder if Black Manta may have survived his Disney Villain Death, especially since his suit does have a jet pack. Given that this is the very last DCEU movie, it's impossible to say either way and is ultimately a moot point.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Most fans are only interested in seeing the film because of Orm taking an Anti-Hero role (and having some more lighthearted Sibling Rivalry moments with Aquaman), the new undersea visual effects, how the movie is the finale of the DCEU, or some combination of the three.
• Memetic Loser: Kordax. All he gets to do after being unsealed is catch his own trident before Arthur quickly destroys him in a single stab.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • As soon as it was revealed that Arthur was going to have a son, a load of Black Comedy erupted as fans began hoping Black Manta would kill Thomas, mimicking his iconic and infamous moment of murdering Arthur Jr. from the comics.
  • Watrick Pilson^ExplanationOrm Marius getting possessed by Kordax has quickly become a Signature Scene among fans. This is also the fourth time a Patrick Wilson character gets possessed on the big screen, leading to some joking about a Possessed Patrick Wilson Cinematic Universe.
  • A metaphor for the DCEU^ExplanationWith the mid-credits scene of Orm putting a cockroach on a burger then eating it winding up being the final scene in the entire DCEU, many were quick to joke that it was an accurate metaphor for the franchise as a whole and a fitting end to the Shared Universe.
  • Aquaman: Wrath of the Lich King. ^ExplanationKordax shares a few traits with the World of Warcraft's villain the Lich King, like his necromantic powers, his armour, being trapped in a frozen throne, etc.
• Moral Event Horizon: After learning that Arthur's familial blood is needed to free Kordax, Black Manta decides to kidnap and sacrifice Arthur Jr., figuring that his blood would be easier to obtain than Arthur's or Orm's. To add insult to injury, David non-lethally wounds Tom when he kidnaps Arthur Jr. so that he will be alive to witness his grandson's death.
• Newer Than They Think: While some fans may be disappointed that Black Manta didn't kill Thomas Curry, in the comics this is a rather recent development as traditionally, Thomas has died of natural causes.
• Older Than They Think: This is hardly the first time that Arthur Junior has survived, this being a tradition for screen adaptations dating back to Justice League.
• So Okay, It's Average: General reception from both critics and audiences is that the movie is fairly entertaining, hitting the typical beats of an epic action-fantasy movie in the same vein as the first Aquaman movie, the Thor movies, or even the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but doesn't really stand out from said crowd, with a very rushed and derivative story and CGI action sequences.
• Special Effect Failure: Some of the most common criticisms leveled against the movie were about the rather choppy editing and some shoddy CGI. This may be a consequence of the post-production budget being drastically lowered after the Warner Bros. Discovery merge, which was also a reason for the constant release date delays. On the whole though, it's not as jarring as The Flash.
• Squick: Orm eating a cockroach. Twice. And he enjoyed it both times!
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A number of fans were disappointed that the film didn't commit to having Black Manta kill Thomas like he infamously did in the comics.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Patrick Wilson is committed to turning in a genuinely empathetic performance for Orm's redemption arc, only slightly hamming up during his possession.
• The Un-Twist: Fans were hardly surprised with Arthur Jr. being Spared by the Adaptation, because killing a baby in what has been advertised as a family-friendly movie poses a risk the more episodic original comics didn't have, of alienating the general audience away with what would come across as a Cruel Twist Ending for those unfamiliar with the source material - especially considering this is the last DCEU entry on the big screen with the future of these characters being uncertain.

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