Why The Snyder Cut Keeps Justice League’s Most Divisive Aquaman Element

Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a huge improvement on Joss Whedon’s theatrical cut yet retained the most divisive element regarding Aquaman and how the Atlanteans communicate underwater with the use of air bubbles. This revelation was a surprise in Justice League’s theatrical cut in 2017 and was assumed to be the invention of Joss Whedon, given their subsequent absence in James Wan’s Aquaman. However, it is now clear this was part of Zack Snyder’s original vision for the film, so this then begs the question, why did Snyder use air bubbles?

The divisive air bubbles appear three times in the Snyder Cut. The first is in “Part 2: The Age of Heroes” when Vulko finds Aquaman and throws the armor and Atlanna’s quindent at his feet, an attempt to sway Aquaman to help his people. The second and third time come during “Part 3: Beloved Mother, Beloved Son” when Mera speaks with an Atlantean soldier before Steppenwolf attacks and after the attack, when she speaks with Aquaman about pursuing Steppenwolf to the surface. Unlike Vulko’s air bubbles, Mera’s at least works as a demonstration of her hydrokenisis, a power Vulko does not possess.

In contrast, of course, air bubbles are not used in Aquaman, instead, dialog is simply spoken underwater with no need to explain the logistics in-universe. This isn’t the only difference between Aquaman and Mera’s appearances in the Snyder Cut and Aquaman, but it remains an odd continuity error. There is one scene in Aquaman featuring an air pocket inside a sunken ship, but it’s explained as an added security measure by Mera who states that only “high born” can breathe both water and air. Perhaps this – along with the reveal of a secret hidden Atlantean language – hints at the original intent of Snyder’s air bubbles as a distinction in how some Atlanteans communicate.

Zack Snyder has not spoken on the specifics of the air bubbles or his rationale for their creation, so it’s only possible to speculate that they were part of Snyder’s vision for Atlantis and Aquaman’s backstory. Writer Chris Terrio has recently revealed that he was never told of the plans to deal with Aquaman talking underwater, and was forced to ask, but clearly there was a miscommunication of some sort as the air bubble set-up didn’t make it to James Wan’s film. There is an alternative in the film’s logic though: During the sequence in “Part 3,” before Steppenwolf attacks, audiences can hear Mera communicating with the other Atlanteans with sounds similar to that of a dolphin or a whale before forming the air bubble to communicate with a potentially a high-ranking “high born” Atlantean soldier. This series of clicks and sounds may be the true language of the Atlanteans.

In this scenario, English is unable to be spoken while treading water which lends itself to the Atlantean language inspired by dolphins and whales. Because the majority of Atlanteans cannot breathe out of water, it would make sense that the ability to speak English is a distinction between the “high born” and everyone else who can only speak Atlantean. This language barrier would also explain why Vulko and Mera create air bubbles to communicate with Aquaman. Snyder portrays Aquaman as having significant contempt for the DCEU’s Atlanteans and their culture, blaming them for his mother’s absence in his life.

Given this, it’s reasonable Aquaman would not know the language of his people, forcing Vulko and Mera to speak to him in these air bubbles. Snyder could have intended for Aquaman’s arc to include the adoption of the Atlantean language as Aquaman united the seven kingdoms of Atlantis to defeat Darkseid in Snyder’s Justice League 2 & 3. This would have added an element to his journey to prove he was the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. Regardless, it is clear Snyder intended for there to be a true Atlantean language, which provides at least some explanation for the air bubbles and their use in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.