Where To Spot Martin Short’s Cameo In Aquaman 2

The DCEU’s final movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, boasts a star-studded cast from Jason Momoa himself to a very brief and hard-to-spot cameo role by Martin Short. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was the last time that Momoa’s Arthur Curry would be seen on the big screen, with James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU reboot set to recast many – but not all – of the characters that precede 2025’s Superman, which began shooting on February 29. Aquaman needed to go out with a bang, and Martin Short was there to lend a hand.

Martin Short is a legendary actor and comedian known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Three Amigos, and Only Murders in the Building to name a few. Commonly associated with fellow legend in the game, Steve Martin, Short’s career is multifaceted, touring comedy shows and playing roles in movies, particularly as a voice actor. While he hasn’t starred in many acclaimed movies in recent years, his filmography tends to skew toward lighthearted comedies and animations. This is reflected in his brief appearance in the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom cast, in which he played a bit part in a particularly unrecognizable guise.

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Martin Short’s Cameo In Aquaman 2 Starts At 53:38

Martin Short appears in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom at 53:38, during the scene in which Arthur and Orm visit the Sunken Citadel pirate haven to glean information about Black Manta’s whereabouts. To do this, they feign capture by the colorful pirate inhabitants of the Sunken Citadel to be brought before Kingfish, voiced by Martin Short. Like John Rhys-Davies’ Brine King, Short’s role is rendered entirely in CGI to resemble a particularly decadent anthropomorphic fish.

The scene is one of the movie’s highlights but woefully brief, as the initially tight-lipped Kingfish quickly bends to Aquaman’s will following a short skirmish and the threat of suffocation. Casting Short in this role was a shrewd move, as the character is evidently a font of comic relief (and a useful plot device) with the actor’s expertise exuding from the opulent and self-assured kingpin of the sea. This was probably helped by the fact that Short had very little to go off in terms of source material.

Who Is Kingfish & Is He From DC Comics?

Kingfish may have been based on one of two DC Comics characters, and both are obscure. The most likely is King Fish, who appeared in Aquaman #54 and most closely resembled Short’s character in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom from his purplish hue to his sharp teeth. This villain was decidedly more fearsome, however, as he successfully poisoned Atlantean citizens and turned them against King Arthur to usurp his throne. Another less likely possibility is that he is based on the Dakotaverse’s parody of Marvel’s Kingpin, Kingfish, who looks practically identical to the human villain.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

PG-13

Director

James Wan

Release Date

December 22, 2023

Writers

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Cast

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

Runtime

124 Minutes

The only real similarity with the latter is that they share a name and a job as the kingpin of the underworld. Whatever the case, it appears that James Wan employed as much creative license with Kingfish as he did with Karshon, the distinctly humanoid Council of Atlantis member who shares a name with an anthropomorphic shark in DC Comics. In the end, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s Kingfish was just as obscure as his comic book counterpart, as he was only on-screen for a matter of minutes anyway.