History Heartwarming / Aquaman2018

*** A meta example of the film's Maori influence: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko3kYNKuX8s Jason Mamoa leading a haka at the film premiere;]] not only do Mamoa and Creator/TemueraMorrison take part but so to do Mamoa's children.

!!Meta

* Creator/JasonMomoa said he hasn't seen the finished movie until the premiere. The reason? He wanted to discover it at the same time as his children.
* Momoa had these words about the film's success:
-->''"BILLION DOLLAR UNDERDOG. From Series/{{Baywatch}} to making what once was the most disrespected superhero into a billion dollar movie. No one gets to the top without the people that love them. My success is from my fans. All my aloha to everyone that had a hand in making this movie. Mahalo Creator/{{Zack|Snyder}} and mahalo Creator/{{James|Wan}} for creating this beautiful world."''
* The fact that the cast and crew still show a great deal of respect for Creator/ZackSnyder. Momoa has publicly and repeatedly thanked him for being cast, whilst Creator/JamesWan has been expressive about how encouraging Snyder was to his work. Wan reportedly even went so far as to show off his work on the film to Snyder against the studio's wishes for his blessing, as well as maintaining that the finished film follows ''Snyder'''s directorial work on ''[[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Justice League]]'' and ''not'' the ([[TroubledProduction infamously reshot/modified]]) [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 theatrically released version]].
* Aquaman rescues the crew of a Russian submarine and it never becomes a case of NiceJobBreakingItHero. It's rare for an American movie to portray Russians (not just Russian civilians, Russian naval officers) as innocent people who deserve to be rescued.

** She tells Arthur that his HalfBreed status isn’t why he shouldn’t be king but that his coming from both land and sea is ''exactly why he should be''.

* It's a familiar scene: hero is in a bar, just wanting to have a drink, when a bunch of massive bikers walk up and want to have a word. Big epic fight, right? Nope. The bikers want to take a picture with Arthur, gushing about how cool he is, and while he seems slightly annoyed at first within a few seconds Arthur and the bikers end up getting along great and spend the entire night drinking with him and Thomas with Arthur grinning the entire time.

* The fact that the cast and crew still show a great deal of respect for Creator/ZackSnyder. Momoa has publicly and repeatedly thanked him for being cast, whilst Creator/JamesWan has been expressive about how encouraging Snyder was to his work. Wan reportedly even went so far as to show off his work on the film to Snyder against the studio's wishes for his blessing, as well as maintaining that the finished film follows ''Snyder'''s directorial work on ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' and ''not'' the ([[TroubledProduction infamously reshot/modified]]) theatrically released version.

*** In addition to the above, when Orm is taken into prison, Volko says "[[IronicEcho but make sure he has a view]]" most cases, this would be a way of twisting in the knife of his defeat. Here, Volko is instructing the captors to make sure he is well-treated. Orm even acknowledges it with a smile.

** The fact that they were talking was itself a heartwarming moment given that the only one to do that prior to Arthur was the ancient king of Atlantis, Atlan, who assigned it this duty in the first place. The monster itself even seems touched by the fact that after thousands of years there is a being that can actually understand what it’s saying, seemingly being a bit lonely the whole time.

** Her claims that Atlan was the last person to actually talk to her brings a whole new layer to Atlantean mythology's claims that Atlan feared her. Either Atlan and she had been friends all along or near the end of his life they bonded for the first and last time. Regardless, Atlan died as her ally and she returned the favor by loyally protecting his corpse and his trident.

* The very fact that at the end, almost everybody gets to live and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earns their happy endings.]] Thomas gets to reunite with Atlanna at long last. Arthur becomes the rightful king of Atlantis with Mera at his side and continues working on uniting both the world above and below the sea. Vulko avoids falling victim to MentorOccupationalHazard and lives to see Arthur became the king. Even the BigBad King Orm doesn't fall victim to SuperheroMovieVillainsDie and drops his hostility upon seeing his mother again, and Arthur said that he will talk things through with Orm later, implying that he might not be beyond redemption after all.
* It's a familiar scene: hero is in a bar, just wanting to have a drink, when a bunch of massive bikers walk up and want to have a word. Big epic fight, right? Nope. The bikers want to take a picture with Arthur, gushing about how cool he is, and while he seems slightly annoyed at first within a few seconds Arthur and the bikers end up getting along great and spend the entire night drinking with Arthur's dad with Arthur grinning the entire time.
* Upon seeing his mother is still alive, Orm is guilt stricken and horrified for the atrocities he had done when he thought his mother was dead. After hugging his mother, he allows himself to be arrested for his crimes.

* A shark came to young Arthur's help when he was jumped by bullies. A ''shark.'' Just rammed the glass as if to say, "You get the '''hell'' away from him, now!"

* In spite of her preconceived prejudices towards land-dwellers as stupid violent savages, Mera gradually becomes enthralled in wonder by the beauty and goodness of Sicily and its people, to the extent of befriending a little local girl by animating the waters of a fountain to dance in the shapes of dolphins. The glittering smiles from the child and Mera from seeing her happy laughter were ''adorable.''