Aquaman’s Wild Ride: The Underwater Spectacle That Rescued DC From the Depths
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
By the time Aquaman splashed into theaters in 2018, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) was running dangerously low on air. Superman brooded, Batman glowered, and Justice League left fans scratching their heads — or abandoning ship altogether. DC’s cinematic ambitions seemed stuck in a permanent storm, with critics yawning, audiences dividing, and memes often outperforming the movies themselves. So when the studio pinned its hopes on a fish-talking superhero in green tights? Most assumed it was over.
Instead, it was just the beginning of an improbable comeback.
Aquaman, directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa, didn’t just swim — it soared. Embracing its bonkers underwater fantasy world with glowing tridents, crab armies, sea dragons, and octopus drummers, the film offered something the DCEU had long been missing: unashamed fun. Gone were the gray skies and existential monologues. In their place? A technicolor opera where Nicole Kidman ninja-kicked Atlanteans and Jason Momoa flexed his way into pop culture dominance.
Critics were divided — some loved the wild, unfiltered spectacle; others dismissed it as chaotic eye candy. But audiences didn’t care. They showed up in droves, eager for something vibrant and new. Opening with a strong $72.7 million domestically, Aquaman quickly rode a tsunami of goodwill to more than $1.15 billion worldwide, becoming DC’s highest-grossing movie ever, according to Box Office Mojo.
It wasn’t just a commercial win — it was a tonal reset.
While previous DC films carried the crushing weight of trying to compete with Marvel’s glitzy, interconnected universe, Aquaman ditched the baggage. It didn’t try to be the DCEU’s savior. It simply told a standalone, stylish story — and in doing so, it accidentally became the savior.
Suddenly, DC realized that not every movie had to connect like a grim puzzle piece. Standalone films could thrive on their own energy, color, and identity. Aquaman‘s runaway success loosened the cinematic shackles, allowing future projects like Shazam!, The Suicide Squad, and The Batman to swim independently, without dragging the entire universe behind them.
In a twist stranger than anything Atlantis could conjure, it wasn’t Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman who saved DC’s cinematic universe — it was a beer-chugging, trident-wielding sea king who once shouted “My man!” in a flying Batmobile.
Aquaman didn’t just rescue Atlantis. He threw a life vest to the whole DC ship — and somehow, made swimming against the current look easy.
