Aquaman 2 Completes The Disrespect Of One Snyderverse Character Started In Justice League

One of the biggest injustices seen in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was how it continued to disrespect one of the DCEU‘s best characters, who was supposed to debut in the Synderverse’s Justice League. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom depicted Arthur Curry’s reluctant return as the King of Atlantis and newfound purpose as a father. In it, he wrestles with the heavy new responsibilities that now rest on his shoulders following his immense character growth in Aquaman. This growth saw him embrace his Atlantean heritage and the noble motive to join the surface world and Atlantis together.

Aquaman did not undergo this growth without resistance, however. Despite being continuously branded “half-breed” and “bastard” by Atlantean detractors – especially his brother Orm – Arthur had a small but integral cohort fighting in his corner. Among these were his wife-to-be Mera, his Queen mother Atlanna, his father Tom, and his mentor, Nuidis Vulko – Vizier of Atlantis. Despite the majority of these maintaining their importance throughout Aquaman’s DCEU story, the DCEU is particularly disrespectful to Vulko, whose noble story comes to a decidedly ignoble end.

Vulko Was Key To Aquaman’s DCEU Story

Nuidis Vulko is played by Willem Dafoe in the DCEU, and acts as the foremost advisor to the throne of Atlantis. During his tenure, he became particularly close to Queen Atlanna, who would request that Vulko secretly watch over and train Arthur following her banishment to the Trench. This would transpire throughout Arthur’s childhood, as seen in Aquaman, as the two met regularly on shore so that Vulko could both teach Arthur about his Atlantean heritage and destiny, as well as train him to become a formidable combatant.

Aquaman

Release Date

July 6, 2018

Runtime

143 Minutes

Despite being spurned by Arthur after divulging the truth of his mother’s fate, Vulko remains loyal to the true heir to the Atlantean throne, conspiring in secret against his half-brother Orm as he loyally carried out Atlanna’s will. With Mera’s help, Vulko would eventually convince Arthur of his destiny before Arthur’s acquisition of the Trident of Atlan cemented it. Throughout Aquaman, Vulko accepted his fate upon being discovered by Orm and never wavered in his loyalty to the true heir of Atlantis. Needless to say, without Vulko’s persistence and aid, Aquaman would never have embraced his potential.

Though the official DCEU timeline would see Vulko make his debut in Aquaman, where he would visit Arthur and set him on his destined course, this wasn’t always the plan envisaged. His debut was initially planned to be in Zack Snyder’s Justice League before the theatrical cut of Justice League wrote out Dafoe’s part entirely. Despite this being the first interaction that Vulko had with Aquaman in years following his final training session, it was also where the disrespect for the character began.

Vulko Is Unceremoniously Killed Off In Zack Snyder’s Justice League

A scene in Zack Snyder’s Justice League saw Vulko reunite with Arthur ahead of Aquaman in which he implores the heir to take up his mother’s trident and his responsibilities as the true King. Arthur is despondent at his request and turns away, but this isn’t the last time that Vulko is seen on-screen. The second is a brief but brutal moment as part of Cyborg’s apocalyptic vision of the Knightmare future in which the Justice League’s failure leads to Darkseid’s takeover of Earth and the death of Diana and Arthur, as well as Superman’s conversion.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Release Date

March 18, 2021

Cast

Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , Amy Adams , Gal Gadot , Ray Fisher , Jason Momoa , Ezra Miller , Jesse Eisenberg , Jeremy Irons , J.K. Simmons , Willem Dafoe

Runtime

242 Minutes

It is during Arthur’s death scene, when Darkseid impales him with his own trident beneath the waves, that Vulko can be seen desperately attempting to swim away from the supervillain. He is, however, swiftly dispatched by Darkseid, who unleashes an Omega Beam from his eyes, killing Vulko in an instant. The death is quick and unceremonious, practically equating Vulko to cannon fodder in Darkseid’s conquest of Earth and the Justice League. While it shows how powerful Darkseid is, it doesn’t give Vulko the narrative heft he deserves.

Had Zack Snyder’s Justice League been the original cut of the movie, Vulko’s brief appearance would have been a little easier to stomach. It is only through a retrospective lens following the events of Aquaman that this death feels egregious in the wake of the knowledge of his importance to Aquaman’s story. No such excuse can be afforded to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, however, in which Vulko’s death is far less dramatic and given even less consideration than the few seconds granted in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Aquaman 2 Kills Vulko Off-Screen In A Bad Way

No matter the circumstances of Vulko’s death in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it is hard for the film to have been so harsh to his legacy as the DCEU’s final movie. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom welcomes back Mera, Atlanna, Tom, and a reformed Orm in central roles that persist throughout the entire narrative. Yet Vulko is nowhere to be seen, with his absence being explained by an almost throwaway line that is ostensibly designed to heighten the stakes, but instead works to further the disrespect leveled at Vulko throughout his DCEU career.

As indicated by Dafoe’s absence, the death of Arthur’s lifelong mentor and loyal friend occurs off-screen. This is explained by Arthur in a conversation with his dad in the opening moments of the movie, in which he explains that the rampant climate change affecting the Earth has led to Vulko’s death from a “plague.” This is then confirmed by the antagonistic head of the Council of Atlantis, Karshon, with whom Arthur disagrees over how to approach the effects of the global catastrophe.

Unfortunately, Vulko’s conspicuous absence from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom could not be helped. The lengthy and tumultuous production of the sequel was bound to hit stumbling blocks when it came to its biggest stars reprising their roles, which is precisely what happened with Willem Dafoe, whose busy schedule could not align with the filming of the movie. In the end, this real-world explanation for why Vulko was mistreated in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom meant the filmmakers were left with little recourse but to explain his absence through his death.