Warning: Contains Spoilers from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1!
One small detail in the latest Aquaman movie tie-in comic has exposed just how much the DCEU failed the Justice League. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is just around the corner, and with it will come the end of the DCEU as James Gunn prepares to reboot DC’s cinematic universe in 2025. The franchise that began in 2013 with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was mired in controversy, especially when the heroes came together in 2017’s Justice League.
To prepare for this final DCEU film, DC Comics has released a special tie-in, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1 by Tim Seeley, Miguel Mendonca, Andrew Dalhouse, and Wes Abbott. The story focuses on Aquaman’s preparations for his upcoming wedding to Mera. He gets a brief moment with the Justice League as they fight off Great White, but for the most part it focuses on his journey to the altar. Herein lies the problem: when the wedding actually takes place, the Justice League are nowhere to be seen — as they weren’t invited.
By choosing not to invite heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, and even the Flash to his ceremony, this ultimately proves that the DCEU never quite understood the camaraderie that this team should share with each other.
The Justice League Weren’t Invited to Aquaman’s Wedding
Perhaps the most upsetting part about this DCEU wedding is that the Justice League weren’t even informed about it. When Aquaman tells Wonder Woman that he has wedding plans, the Flash seems totally baffled as Wonder Woman says “about time.” It feels totally out-of-character for Aquaman to not even announce that he’s engaged, especially since he not only works with the Flash and Wonder Woman, but he seems to have developed a friendship with them. He may want to keep his life private, but the fact that not even the Flash, who’s clearly established in the films as his closest friend, knew about the wedding feels like the DCEU let them down by not properly portraying the camaraderie that makes the League a beloved team.
This isn’t the first time in the DC’s history that Aquaman and Mera have been married. The couple first tied the knot in 1964’s Aquaman #18 by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy. Then, after years of reboots forged by Crisis on Infinite Earths and the New 52, the two were officially married again in 2020 with Aquaman #65 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Mendonca, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Clayton Cowles. What these two issues have in common, though, is that the Justice League are invited to the ceremony in all continuities, showing just how close the team is throughout time. They see each other as friends outside of work who support each other unconditionally, which is something that the DCEU doesn’t capture at all.
The Justice League Attending Aquaman’s Wedding Is a DC Tradition
With DC’s James Gunn-led cinematic reboot still in the works, it’s unknown if this important superheroic wedding will get a second chance. It all depends on when the new movie universe introduces Aquaman and how long it takes to develop not just his relationship with Mera but with the Justice League as well. However, as long the team is on the wedding list, it will be a massive improvement over the DCEU, as it would show just how far Aquaman‘s relationship with his friends in the Justice League has come.
