Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters this weekend with the dubious distinction of being the final film in the DC Extended Universe. And that means the final scene – the credits scene – is the final shot of Warner Bros.' great effort. to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its own superhero setting.
But it also means that the typical use of a superhero movie end credits scene doesn't apply here. There are no future franchise events for it Lost kingdom point at. What's a blockbuster thing to do?
If you've seen it Lost kingdomYou know, and if you haven't already, maybe you're just here to talk. But this is what it did.
(Ed. Remark: This piece contains spoilers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.)
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics
Lost kingdomThe film's credits scene isn't about anything major, it's just a callback to a crude joke from earlier in the film. Orm (Patrick Wilson), the redeemed villain from the start Aquariusis enjoying his first hamburger on the surface when he sees a cockroach running across the picnic table at the dock.
Earlier in the film, his brother Aquaman (Jason Momoa) tricks him into thinking that live cockroaches are a daily snack on the surface world. So Orm grabs the cockroach, slaps it between the layers of his sandwich and takes a big, happy bite. Good night, dear DCEU, may flights of angels sing to you for your rest.
But here I must beg my fellow human beings: we must absolutely not turn it into a metaphor. No matter how resonant, absurd or funny the credit scene is Lost kingdomwe must resist.
Orm's burger is inevitably a crude Rorschach test. The bug could be everything you didn't like about the DCEU, and Orm likes to eat it, it's the fans you don't like to eat. OrOrm are the executives whose interference ruined the franchise and happily chose their comeuppance (the cockroach), which is the collapse of the whole thing (a frankly very tasty burger). Or maybe, the burger is somehow the Snyder Cut, and Orm is Joss Whedon? I'm sure someone can complete that video essay.
But we must draw a line in the sand, like Topo the octopus rushing away from the blood-drinking Deserters and back to the safety of deep water. We must hold back, like Orm touching the Black Trident. We must escape, like the fish in the sea, able to say that in the end, at the end of an era, we did not take the bait.