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The DC Extended Universe, aka the DCEU, aka the Snyderverse, may be a thing of the past, but it’s still popular in 2025. At least in the world of streaming, anyhow. 2023’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” brought the DCEU as we knew it to an end. Warner Bros. has since rebooted the DC Universe under the guidance of DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. However, Jason Momoa’s second and final solo “Aquaman” movie is now finding love on Netflix two years after it hit theaters.
In the final week of November, director James Wan’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” was the ninth-most viewed movie on Netflix, amassing 3.9 million views. Even as of this writing, the movie is still in the streamer’s top 10. While it’s a Warner Bros. movie that has been available on HBO Max for some time, WB does have a deal that allows its films to go to Netflix. Now, subscribers to the biggest streaming service in the world are catching up with it.
The film centers on Arthur Curry (Momoa), who is once again dealing with Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II ). After failing to defeat the hero last time around, the latter remains driven by the need to avenge his father’s death and will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all.
2018’s “Aquaman” became the highest-grossing DC movie ever at the time of its release, ultimately taking in $1.15 billion at the worldwide box office. The sequel, however, didn’t fare nearly as well, taking in just $440 million, serving as a major disappointment and ending the DCEU on a low note. But it’s still evidently of interest to viewers, just not so much that they felt the need to leave the house to watch it.
Audiences are finally catching up with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Unfortunately, “The Lost Kingdom” couldn’t live up to its predecessor critically and also arrived well after Gunn and Safran announced their grand plans to reboot the DCU. While some of the initial plans for the DC Universe have changed, this still signaled to audiences that the 2023 DC slate was, more or less, irrelevant. And while a movie should still be able to stand on its own two feet, that certainly didn’t help matters.
To that end, the entire 2023 DC slate flopped, with “”Blue Beetle” ($130 million worldwide/$100 million budget), “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” ($134 million worldwide/$125 million budget), and “The Flash” ($271 million worldwide/$200 million budget) all falling well short of expectations. Wan’s “Aquaman” sequel was merely the final straw.
Even so, it’s interesting that there remains such strong interest in these movies for viewers who are enjoying them from the comfort of home. To that end, “Blue Beetle” was also recently trending on Netflix. That is key, as Gunn intends to bring that character into the new DCU. Momoa, however, won’t be coming back as Aquaman. Instead, he’s been tapped to play the antihero Lobo in next year’s “Supergirl” movie.
A couple of years removed, it’s equally interesting looking back on the DCEU as a whole. Going back to “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” it always felt like DC was scrambling (and failing) to catch up with Marvel. There were high highs and low lows, but the whole thing was uneven and messy. At the end of the day, though, a lot of these movies have a lot of fans out there. That counts for something.
You can also grab “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon
