Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Reaction: Cinepals Enjoy Aquaman's Debut But Wanted a Deeper Origin Story

Watching Justice League: Throne of Atlantis for the first time left us happy to finally see Aquaman join the team, but wishing the movie had spent more time on his personal story. Overall we called it "really enjoyable and fun" and came away wanting more, even while flagging that Arthur felt underdeveloped next to the rest of the League.

This one matters for anyone following the DC animated rewatch because it is the movie that finally brings Aquaman into the Justice League proper, after only brief appearances in earlier entries, and it ends with a Lex Luthor tease that sets up what comes next.

We Loved the Humor Around Arthur Curry Finally Joining the Justice League

Early on we got a kick out of Arthur's bar fight with the lobster and his general chaos before he becomes king, joking about him talking to Scuttle and asking "What the dingle hopper is this?" during his Atlantis makeover. We also enjoyed small character bits like Cyborg's upgrade conversation with his dad and the awkward Diana and Lois introduction scene.

We Really Liked the Green Lantern and Batman Dynamic

One of the specific moments we called out was the back and forth between Green Lantern trying to run the team and Batman ignoring his hails. We described it as Green Lantern acting like "No, I'm in charge. Why isn't he here?" while Batman is off interrogating Scarecrow, and we called the dynamic "cute" and "very cute."

We Wished Aquaman Got the Same Backstory Treatment as Batman and Flash

Our biggest critique was that Arthur's arc felt thin compared to the origin-heavy movies we had watched for Batman and Flash. We said the film felt "more action heavy and kind of like fight heavy" and that Arthur came across as "almost two-dimensional," a stand-in used to set up Orm as the villain and the new Lex Luthor and Black Manta threads rather than a fully explored hero. We specifically wanted to see him discover his powers, struggle with feeling different, and get more scenes with his mother and father, and we noted we did not get any of the classic moment of him realizing he can talk to sea creatures beyond one quick line.

We Debated the Trident Lore and Why It Hurt Superman So Badly

During the final battle we floated a theory that if the Atlanteans trace back to Poseidon and the Amazons trace back to Athena, maybe Wonder Woman could hold the trident too, though we agreed it is probably restricted to that specific royal bloodline. We were also surprised by how badly the trident hurt Superman, since we could not recall him being affected that severely by anything other than kryptonite, and we wondered aloud whether Atlantean lore ties back to outside cosmic influence the way Krypton does for Superman.

We're Excited for the Lex Luthor Tease and What Comes Next

We closed out genuinely excited for more, saying the ending left us wanting a lot more of Arthur's world and Meera's expanded role, and looking forward to seeing how the Lex Luthor proposition to Orm plays into future movies.

Do you think Arthur gets a fuller redemption or origin story later in the DC animated universe, and should the team rewatch Jason Momoa's live-action Aquaman next?