History YMMV / Aquaman2018

* MoralEventHorizon: If Orm hadn't crossed it by ordering a tsunami, then he either crosses it when he [[spoiler:sent Manta to assassinate Mera and Arthur or when he murdered King Ricou in cold blood.]]

** Although the existence of a Trench in the Mediterranean Sea is an example of ArtisticLicenseGeology, its placement near Sicily brings to mind the legend of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Scylla and Charybdis]], sited between Sicily and Calabria in the Strait of Messina. The Kingdom of the Trench is marked by a whirlpool (swarmed by Trench monsters), evoking Charybdis' whirlpool.[[note]]There is indeed a whirlpool there in Real Life, caused by the meeting of currents, but it is dangerous only to small crafts in extreme conditions, like a storm.[[/note]]

** The Atlantean device in the Sahara bears the symbols of the Zodiac and their accompanying astronomical constellations.
** Although the existence of a Trench in the Mediterranean Sea is an example of ArtisticLicenseGeology, its placement near Sicily brings to mind the legend of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Scylla and Charybdis]], sited between Sicily and Calabria in the Strait of Messina. The Kingdom of the Trench is marked by a whirlpool (swarmed by Trench monsters), evoking Charybdis' whirlpool.

* GeniusBonus: The Atlantean device in the Sahara bears the symbols of the Zodiac and their accompanying astronomical constellations.

** China ''loves'' this film; in its opening weekend alone it outgrossed ''any'' previous Warner Brothers film, had the largest December opening in Chinese history before surpassing the already ridiculously successful (and also much more warmly received there) ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' as the second most successful superhero movie in the country after ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' -- and it got an extension for its screenings there until February 2019 on top of this, which is a rare thing for foreign movies playing in the country. It ended up grossing $292 million there, which made it the fifth most popular foreign film and the nineteenth most popular movie period in the country's history. It also got [[https://www.weibo.com/p/100120179340 very positive reviews]], with [[https://movie.douban.com/subject/3878007/ Douban]] (China's equivalent to Rotten Tomatoes) giving it an 8.1/10, with hundreds of thousands of viewers giving it an average rating of 4/5 stars. It even beat the remastered rerelease of classic anime film ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' despite that film being well-established as one of the most beloved classics in Asian cinema, being a CashCowFranchise in China, and making most of its box office sales from said Chinese remastered rerelease.

* SignatureScene: The shot of Aquaman with thousands of aquatic animals at his command, including [[spoiler:the Karathen, an underwater Kaiju.]]

* AudienceColoringAdaptation: [[Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad A much-welcomed case of this]] due to ''finally'' displacing [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends Aquaman's embarrassing old Audience-Coloring Adaptation]] among non-comic fans. Now, Aquaman's popular perception is as a badass warrior king, just like it's always been to those who actually bothered to look at stuff outside of ''Superfriends''.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: If you don't mind the fact that [[WaterIsAir talking underwater is silly]], the air bubble Mera summons underwater to talk to Arthur in ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' has been quite divisively received (to Creator/ZackSnyder tried implementing a specific Atlantean language made of dolphin clicks and squeaks, which was scrapped in the Whedon version but made it to ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''). In ''Aquaman'', characters talk underwater pretty much as well as they do out of it, and the air-pocket trick is used by Mera for practical purposes -- as a safety pocket to help Arthur rescue his father amidst the tsunami caused by Orm, as a measure to make it difficult for 'non-high born' Atlanteans (ones who can't breathe out of the water) to know what's being said, and finally as a ''weapon'' against Orm in order to distract him as he's forced to briefly cough out the water in his lungs to adjust to being out-of-water.

** China ''loves'' this film; in its opening weekend alone it outgrossed ''any'' previous Warner Brothers film, had the largest December opening in Chinese history before surpassing the already ridiculously successful (and also much more warmly received there) ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' as the second most successful superhero movie in the country after ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' -- and it got an extension for its screenings there until February 2019 on top of this, which is a rare thing for foreign movies playing in the country. It ended up grossing $292 million there, which made it the fifth most popular foreign film and the nineteenth most popular movie period in the country's history. It also got [[https://www.weibo.com/p/100120179340 very positive reviews]], with [[https://movie.douban.com/subject/3878007/ Douban]] (China's equivalent to Rotten Tomatoes) giving it an 8.1/10, with hundreds of thousands of viewers giving it an average rating of 4/5 stars.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** The voice of Creator/JulieAndrews, Film/MaryPoppins herself, as a sea creature becomes this since the film opened against ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'', in which Andrews declined to appear.
** Creator/JasonMomoa's RealLife [[Creator/ZoeKravitz stepdaughter]] would later become part of DC when she was cast as Catwoman for Creator/MattReeves's Batman reboot.

* FoeYay: Black Manta's obsession over killing Aquaman leans a bit into this, especially as he's crafting his iconic suit to Depeche Mode's "It's No Good" -- which is often interpreted as an ''obsessive love song''.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The movie bizarrely has quite a few parallels to VideoGame/DevilMayCry3, with the central conflict focusing on the rivalry between two [[RedOniBlueOni color-coordinated brothers]] of diametric temperaments, whose respective outlooks are motivated by the [[spoiler:supposed]] death of their mother, with one learning to embrace his heritage while the other is driven to villainy by his desire for power.

* MagnificentBastard: [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking King Orm Marius]] of Atlantis is the [[CainAndAbel younger half-brother]] of Arthur Curry aka Aquaman. Bitter at the supposed death of his mother and blaming Arthur and the Surface for the ills of the ocean, Orm arranges for the pirate Black Manta to attack a meeting to make it appear as if there is a threat so he may launch a campaign to unite the kingdoms of the sea, by negotiation or by force, so he may take the title of Ocean Master. Manipulating Arthur into challenging him, even as he admits he would rather not kill him, Orm defeats him and while adhering [[ExactWords to a promise not to kill his fiancee Mera]], he sends Manta after Arthur and Mera when Mera helps Arthur escape. A skilled fighter, Orm even faces Arthur in direct combat out of the water, willing to offer his own life for his cause until he sees his mother has survived, handling his [[GracefulLoser defeat with grace]] in the end.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: A hero of mixed heritage and played by an actor of Polynesian and Native American descent being discriminated by a society whose members are played by ([[Creator/LudiLin mostly]]) white actors, in a story whose major theme is about how the two heritages are part of the same world, not two separate ones, and should play nice with each other. At this point, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that the movie is an immigration allegory.

* WinTheCrowd:
** Momoa as Aquaman is viewed as utterly inspired casting, combined with James Wan as an exciting directorial choice and an impressive supporting cast that seem genuinely enthusiastic about the film, so there is a lot of hope for the movie, despite (or especially after) the ''Justice League'' debacle. It helps too that it hasn't been under the same amount of scrutiny (and constant reports of TroubledProduction) as the other DCEU films.
** Add to that the fact that James Wan and new DC Films producers Walter Hamada and Peter Safran know each other very well and worked well in the past on the ''[[Film/TheConjuringUniverse Conjuring Universe]]'' films, meaning there probably won't be [[ExecutiveMeddling behind-the-scenes shenanigans]], the very kind of things that caused most of the TroubledProduction in previous DCEU films.
** Rupert Gregson-Williams composing the score. His scoring of ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' was much appreciated, building on what Music/HansZimmer established in ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice''. Especially when compared to the divisive scoring of ''Justice League'' by Music/DannyElfman.
** Judging from reactions, [[http://comicbook.com/movies/2018/02/24/aquaman-movie-action-wonder-woman-justice-league/ test screen audiences]] think the movie is just as good, if not better, than ''Wonder Woman''. And this was even with their complaints about the movie's pacing.
** Early reactions to the first trailer praised it for having humor and a much lighter and more colorful visual palette, which has excited people who didn't like the DarkerAndEdgier look and feel of previous DCEU films, particularly those directed by Creator/ZackSnyder. The previous movies that attempted to be lighter (''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'' and ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'') were done through hasty reshoots and post-production editing to less-than-stellar results. ''Aquaman'''s tone seems like it has been built from the ground up and in a more thought-out and relevant way than what was done to the two aforementioned movies. Just like ''Wonder Woman'', again.
** Black Manta's design has won over a lot of fans for evoking the classic look with a tactical modernization similar to ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. It just feels right, as proper balance between cinematic and comic-accurate. Yahya Abdul-Mateen's performance coupled with his three-dimensional characterisation also helped.
** Like ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]'', the trailer has been received ''very'' positively with praise being given to the tone, visuals and Aquaman himself.
** Just as the Comic-Con trailer won a lot of people over, the extended NYCC trailer has been very warmly received with praise for the action scenes and visuals, Arthur and Mera's banter and a shot where Arthur dons the classic outfit. It looks ''amazing''.
** General reactions praised the film as being a rip-roaringly good time.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The scene where King Orm launches his first attack on the surface world by flooding the coastlines with large tidal waves is harder to watch now in light of [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46663158 the tsunami strike in Indonesia that came after its release]], killing hundreds.
** Among humanity's crimes against the oceans, Orm mentions whaling. Japan was confirmed to be continuing its controversial whaling practices right when ''Aquaman'' came out.

** Creator/JasonMomoa previously played [[Film/ConanTheBarbarian2011 Conan]], a Cimmerian, descendant of Atlantean colonists. Now he plays ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, a.k.a. the prince/king of Atlantis. And he also had a role in ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. Not to mention [[Series/GameOfThrones the chief of a race that fears the ocean]]. And his first acting role was in ''Series/{{Baywatch}}''.
** Once again, Creator/WillemDafoe plays the experienced mentor [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo to an underwater character]]. Or just [[Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou him going underwater]].
** Speaking of Dafoe as Vulko, it seems that the DCEU has become a haven of actors from the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' with also Creator/JKSimmons (DaEditor J. Jonah Jameson) as Commissioner Gordon, Creator/JoeManganiello (JerkJock Eugene "Flash" Thompson) as Deathstroke and now Willem Dafoe ([[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Norman Osborn / the Green Goblin]]). This film is also shot by cinematographer Don Burgess, who worked on the 2002 film.
** Aquaman being released in the same year as ''[[Film/BlackPanther2018 Black Panther]]'' counts as this, considering that in Marvel Comics Wakanda and Atlantis have a rivalry.
*** Mera's full name is Y'mera-Xebella-(T')Challa!
*** Creator/YahyaAbdulMateenII playing Black Manta, one of the first black supervillains,[[note]]appeared in the comics in 1967[[/note]] is amusing given that he auditioned for a role in ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' prior to being cast here.

** Years ago, ''Series/{{Entourage}}'' famously did a storyline about Vinnie appearing in a live-action ''Aquaman'' movie, which immediately became a massive worldwide hit. The idea was clearly tongue-in-cheek, and was meant to poke fun at the notion of a "lame" superhero like Aquaman (who, at the time, was still mostly remembered for ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'') actually becoming a box office draw. With the 2018 ''Aquaman'' movie smashing international box office records, that storyline now seems less derisive and more clairvoyant.
*** The storyline's joke about Creator/JamesCameron directing said movie becomes even more amusing after Cameron became one of the film's most vocal critics (he's infamously criticized its lack of realism while also apparently plugging his ''Avatar'' sequels).
** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' fans regard the Atlantean beast-units with no small amusement, because there is a definite visual similarity between them and an Age of Sigmar faction called the Idoneth Deepkin, who are Atlantis-inspired undersea elves who hunt mortals for souls with the aid of dominated {{sea monster}}s. Notably, both have shark cavalry, and turtle-based aquatic tanks. The Xebellian seahorses from this movie even look rather similar to Idoneth "deepmares", although deepmares have clawed forelimbs and no hindlimbs, whilst the seahorses lack forelimbs but do have webbed hindlimbs that aid them in swimming.
** The Brazilian dub has a few:
*** Francisco Junior (Aquaman) also voiced another DC character who's a BoisterousBruiser with HiddenDepths: Mick Rory from the Series/{{Arrowverse}}.
*** Luísa Palomanes (Mera) had voiced another DC's redhead badass princess: [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Koriand’r a.k.a. Starfire]]. Outside DC, she voiced ''[[PigeonholedVoiceActor yet another]]'' redhead badass princess: [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Merida]]. Bonus points for the similar names and [[RedheadInGreen the taste for green clothes]].
*** Miriam Ficher (Atlanna) also voiced another 2018 adaptation of a heroic queen: Queen Angela, form ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''.
*** Reginaldo Primo (Orm) once again voices a royalty member villain, also from [[Film/{{Thor}} a superhero movie]], with a [[PrincelingRivalry grudge against his brother]].
** Creator/LaurenceFishburne appearing in [[Film/AntManAndTheWasp an MCU movie]] after getting [[Film/ManOfSteel a regular role in the DCEU]] caught quite a few people by surprise - imagine their shock when Creator/RandallPark ''went in the exact opposite direction'' (going from the very movie Fishburne appeared in to a DCEU movie [[spoiler:and according to TheStinger, he'll be back]]). Likewise for Djimon Hounsou (who played Korath in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'')
** Creator/NicoleKidman isn't the [[Creator/MichellePfeiffer first actress]] from a Batman movie to play an absent mother [[spoiler:who is initially believed to have died years ago but is actually alive albeit trapped in a nightmare world]].
** The trope page for HeartIsAnAwesomePower shows Aquaman summoning and controlling Cthulu. [[spoiler:Aquaman proves himself worthy of the trident by talking to an EldritchAbomination sea creature]].
** Over a decade before this film's release, Creator/JohnRhysDavies guest starred as Black Manta {{expy}} Man-Ray in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. Now Rhys-Davies plays a character in a film featuring the real Manta.

** Seeing Creator/AmberHeard play Aquaman's loving consort (at the end of the movie) can be ''a lot'' harder to watch after a tape emerged where Heard admitted that she physically and verbally abused her husband at the time, Creator/JohnnyDepp.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The air bubble Mera summons underwater to talk to Arthur in ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' has been quite divisively received (to Creator/ZackSnyder, talking underwater "makes no sense" and he tried implementing a specific Atlantean language made of "clicks and squeaks" but it didn't work out). In ''Aquaman'', characters talk underwater pretty much as well as they do out of it, and the air-pocket trick is used by Mera for practical purposes -- as a safety pocket to help Arthur rescue his father amidst the tsunami caused by Orm, as a measure to make it difficult for 'non-high born' Atlanteans (ones who can't breathe out of the water) to know what's being said, and finally as a ''weapon'' against Orm in order to distract him as he's forced to briefly cough out the water in his lungs to adjust to being out-of-water.

* CriticalDissonance: Building from ClicheStorm above, a number of critics ripped the film for being "unoriginal" and for its pacing problems. Its box-office turnout and popular reception, on the other hand, are clearly way more welcoming. It rather falls under Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad: while the plot may seem cliché, it follows a commonly understood storyline that most audiences can accept and enjoy. Not to mention the dissonance is actually downplayed considering the movie is currently enjoying a "Fresh" rating at 65% on WebSite/RottenTomatoes, which is a '''big''' improvement over anything in the franchise that was not ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}''.

** Queen Atlanna [[spoiler: actually being alive all this time]] becomes incredibly obvious because the characters [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial won't shut up about how she's totally dead]], she's shown to be a badass in the movie opening and it seems strange such a competent fighter could be so easily killed off, and thirdly she's played by Nicole Kidman - no way they were only going to use her for ten minutes. Plus the MissingMom trope is so overdone in superhero movies that audiences are understandably sick of it.

** Seeing Amber Heard play Aquaman's loving consort (at the end of the movie) can be ''a lot'' harder to watch after a tape emerged where Heard admitted that she physically and verbally abused her husband at the time, Johnny Depp.

** China ''loves'' this film; in its opening weekend alone it outgrossed ''any'' previous Warner Brothers film, had the largest December opening in Chinese history before surpassing the already ridiculously successful (and also much more warmly received there) ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' as the second most successful superhero movie in the country after ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' -- and it got an extension for its screenings there until February 2019 on top of this, which is a rare thing for foreign movies playing in the country. By some projections, it will end its run at over $350 million, which will make it the fourth most popular foreign film and the eleventh most popular movie period in the country's history. It also got [[https://www.weibo.com/p/100120179340 very positive reviews]], with [[https://movie.douban.com/subject/3878007/ Douban]] (China's equivalent to Rotten Tomatoes) giving it an 8.1/10, with hundreds of thousands of viewers giving it an average rating of 4/5 stars.

** Seeing Amber Heard play Aquaman's loving consort (at the end of the movie) can be ''a lot'' harder to watch after a tape emerged where Heard admitted that she physically and verbally abused her husband at the time, Johnny Depp. Although according to court documents from Depp's defamation case against a tabloid, she's been fired from the sequel.

** The trope page for HeartIsAnAwesomePower shows Aquaman summoning and controlling Cthulu. [[spoiler:Aquaman proves himself worthy of the trident by talking to an EldrichAbomination sea creature]].

** Seeing Amber Heard play Aquaman's loving wife can be a lot more harder to watch after a tape emerged where Heard admitted that she physically and verbally abused her husband at the time, Johnny Depp. Although according to court documents from Depp's defamation case against a tabloid, she's been fired from the sequel.

* MemeticMutation:
** The first poster was ''very'' quickly turned into a target for Photoshops, either inserting other marine-based characters, putting Aquaman somewhere else, or mashing up with other watery movie posters such as ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' and ''Film/TheMeg''.
** After seeing all the [[WeaponizedAnimal armored sharks]], everyone started joking about how [[Film/AustinPowers Dr. Evil]] finally got his sharks with FrickinLaserBeams.
** A lot of fans still stick to InsistentTerminology about Aquaman's trident not technically being a trident because it has ''five'' prongs.
** Orm riding a ''Mosasauridae'' species (''Tylosaurus'', as explained by James Wan) the same year as the release of ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', which featured the park's ''Mosasaurus'' escaping into the open ocean caused a lot of jokes about this being where it ended up.
** The Trench's [[XenomorphXerox resemblance to the Aliens]] earned them the fan-nickname of [[{{Pun}} Seanomorphs]].
** Jokes comparing Arthur and/or Mera to ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' and other similar characters have been very common. (Mera is also a redhead princess of an ocean kingdom, who's clueless about land things, so it fits.)
** Of course, as with ''Justice League'', Jason Momoa being Aquaman still draws a lot of Khal Drogo comparisons.
*** He also briefly rides a sea dragon in the final battle, so jokes of "His wife Daenerys would be proud" is commonplace.
** When Arthur states that he's not a "fish-boy", he's a "fish-man", comparisons were immediately made to [[Film/{{Zoolander}} Derek Zoolander]] saying "mer-''man''!".
** "Remember kids, alcohol is bad for you."[[labelnote:Explanation]]Mera takes out three Atlantean guards by using her hydrokinesis ability to manipulate ''wine'', which she turns into spears to impale them.[[/labelnote]]
** "Mary Poppins is a sea monster!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Producer Peter Safran revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Creator/JulieAndrews is voicing a sea creature who guards King Atlan's trident. Naturally fans are quick to make memes and references to her [[Film/MaryPoppins other role]]. What's even funnier is that ''Aquaman'' competed against ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'' at the Christmas 2018 box office of all things, and that Julie Andrews refused to have a cameo in it to not overshadow Creator/EmilyBlunt.[[/labelnote]]
** Jokes about the song Pitbull did for the movie have already become extremely common, with fans jokingly inserting it into other movies.
** Wan-billion [[labelnote:Explanation]]A portmanteau of the film's director James Wan and the film's box office results as of mid-January 2019.[[/labelnote]]
** [[Franchise/StarWars "Veteran Clone reminiscing about the Clone Wars."]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]One scene has Tom Curry (played by Creator/TemueraMorrison, best known for his roles as Jango Fett and his Clone Troopers in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'') staring out into the ocean, which led many fans to joke that he's actually a Clone Trooper reminiscing about his past as a soldier.[[/labelnote]]

*** Francisco Junior (Aquaman) also voiced another DC character who's a BoisterousBruiser with HiddenDepths: [[Characters/ArrowverseMickRory Mick Rory]] from the Series/{{Arrowverse}}.

*** Reginaldo Primo (Orm) once again voices a [[Characters/MCULoki royalty member villain]], also from [[Film/{{Thor}} a superhero movie]], with a [[PrincelingRivalry grudge against his brother]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking King Orm Marius]] of Atlantis is the [[CainAndAbel younger half-brother]] of [[Characters/DCEUAquaman Arthur Curry aka Aquaman]]. Bitter at the supposed death of his mother and blaming Arthur and the Surface for the ills of the ocean, Orm arranges for the pirate Black Manta to attack a meeting to make it appear as if there is a threat so he may launch a campaign to unite the kingdoms of the sea, by negotiation or by force, so he may take the title of Ocean Master. Manipulating Arthur into challenging him, even as he admits he would rather not kill him, Orm defeats him and while adhering [[ExactWords to a promise not to kill his fiancee Mera]], he sends Manta after Arthur and Mera when Mera helps Arthur escape. A skilled fighter, Orm even faces Arthur in direct combat out of the water, willing to offer his own life for his cause until he sees his mother has survived, handling his [[GracefulLoser defeat with grace]] in the end.