The final Aquaman 2 trailer teases the King of Atlantis and the DCEU's last stand

Orm and Aquaman stand in front of some wreckage in Aquaman 2
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will call time on the DCEU in its current form. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics)

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's release is just weeks away, so Warner Bros. has given us another trailer to get excited about (and to get those ticket presales moving along).

One of 2023's final new movies starts with some cute family scenes to make you go "awwww", but it isn't long before trouble turns up and it's trident time. Indeed, the story sees Black Manta (Yahya Abdul Mateen-II) take center stage, with the villain of 2018's Aquaman back and more formidable than ever. 

As the teaser shows, he's got the mythic Black Trident, a super-powered spear that unleashes an ancient, malevolent power that's more than Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) alone can handle. To battle Black Manta and rescue his newborn – who Manta kidnaps – Aquaman enlists the help of his imprisoned brother and former King of Atlantis Orm (Patrick Wilson) in an uneasy alliance to protect the kingdom and save the world. Check out the trailer below:

As mentioned, Momoa's back in the lead role, while the rest of the cast includes the aforementioned Wilson and Abdul-Mateen II, as well as Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Jani Zhao, Temeura Morrison, and Amber Heard. Ben Affleck is also rumored to feature as Bruce Wayne/Batman for the final time, too.  James Wan is returning to the director's chair for another epic underwater adventure.

Aquaman 2 will be the fifteenth and final instalment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), whose 10-year run – which began with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel – will end once Arthur Curry's second standalone flick swims into theaters. After that, DC Studios new co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran will usher in a new-look DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), which is set to begin with animated Max series Creature Commandos sometime in 2024.

Judging by its latest trailer, though, Aquaman 2 looks like it'll be going out with a big bang (and a splash) as it draws the curtains on the DCEU one last time. Given its predecessor made over $1 billion at the box office, Warner Bros. will be hoping the Momoa-led movie will end things on a high, too. To catch up on everything about the DCEU before The Lost Kingdom surfaces, read up on how to watch the DC movies in order.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arrives in theaters on December 21 in the UK, December 22 in the US, and December 26 in Australia.

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Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

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