The DCEU Just Ended After 10 Years With The Wildest Reference To A 15-Year-Old MCU Movie

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

The DC Extended Universe officially concludes with the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the final installment ends with a surprising reference to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The DCEU launched a decade ago with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which first established the cinematic world that would expand to introduce the likes of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman. However, due to a number of changes behind the scenes and no real central architect holding everything together, the DCEU movies never reached the heights of the MCU.

As a result, Warner Bros. Discovery established DC Studios a little over a year ago, led by filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, to try once again to create a cohesive cinematic universe based on DC Comics characters. In January, Gunn and Safran announced their early plans for the new DC Universe, which will relaunch the franchise for a new era. That left the 2023 DC movies as the last remnants of the franchise, with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom being the final DCEU movie to hit theaters. And it seems the DCEU movie chose to go out with a shout-out to its fellow superhero juggernaut.

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Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom Review: The DCEU Ends Not With A Bang, But With A Whimper

Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom is as goofy and adventurous as the first movie, but tries too hard for a seriousness it can never achieve with Jason Momoa.

Aquaman 2’s Final Line References “I Am Iron Man”

Iron Man (2008) Ends With Tony Stark Announcing He’s Iron Man At A Press Conference

The Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ending features Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) holding a press conference to announce Atlantis’s presence to the world, and he concludes his speech by stating his name. Then Momoa pulls the microphone from the podium so he can hold it close to his mouth, and he bombastically announces, “I am Aquaman!” The moment is an obvious reference to Robert Downey Jr.’s final scene in Iron Man, in which Tony Stark announces, “I am Iron Man.” The Iron Man scene is credited with essentially launching the MCU, and Marvel even referenced it in Avengers: Endgame, which concluded the franchise’s Infinity Saga. Now, the DCEU has ended with a reference to the line that launched the MCU, bringing the superhero franchise to an oddly perfect conclusion.

Why Jason Momoa’s “I Am Aquaman” Is the Perfect DCEU Ending

It Epitomizes The Idea That There’s No Real Rivalry Between DC And Marvel Movies

Comics fans have long debated Marvel vs. DC in terms of which heroes are stronger or which stories are better, and when Hollywood began adapting the characters to the big screen, which franchise had better films naturally became part of the discussion. However, many filmmakers – including James Gunn – have insisted there isn’t a Marvel vs. DC divide in Hollywood. As Gunn said in 2016 of both Marvel and DC movies, “I want them all to be good.” That idea is further reinforced by Aquaman 2 ending the DCEU with a reference to the MCU.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the sequel to the 2018 film that sees Jason Momoa reprise his role as Arthur Curry (AKA Aquaman.) In the film, Aquaman is forced to forge a strained alliance with a new ally to protect his kingdom of Atlantis and the world from total destruction. 

Release Date

December 22, 2023

Director

James Wan

Cast

Jason Momoa , Amber Heard , Patrick Wilson , Dolph Lundgren , Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Temuera Morrison

Rating

PG-13

Runtime

124 Minutes

Instead of taking shots at the MCU or poking fun at DC’s perceived competition, Momoa’s final line pays tribute to the Marvel moment that helped catapult the superhero genre to the massive success it’s seen since. The reference reads like an acknowledgment that no one involved with the superhero genre would be here today without Iron Man’s success, which is undoubtedly true. In this way, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom concluding the DCEU with an MCU nod is actually perfect. It ends the DC franchise on a note of positivity, building a bridge between the DCEU and MCU, which perfectly fits the theme of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.