Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters this weekend with the dubious honor of being the final film in the DC Extended Universe. And that means that the final scene – the end credits scene – is the final shot of Warner Bros.’s big attempt to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe its own superhero setting.
But it also means that the typical use of a superhero movie credits scene is not used here. There are no future franchise events for Lost Kingdom to point to. What can you do with a blockbuster?
If you’ve seen it Lost Kingdom, you know, and if not, maybe you’re just here to have fun. But here’s what it did.
[Ed. Note: This piece contains spoilers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.]
Lost KingdomThe end credits scene isn’t about anything important, it’s just a callback to a gross gag from the beginning of the film. Orm (Patrick Wilson), the redeemed villain of the first hour AquamanHe’s enjoying his first hamburger on the surface when he spots a cockroach scurrying across the picnic table by the harbor.
At the beginning of the film, his bro ther Aquaman (Jason Momoa) led him to believe that live cockroaches were a common snack on the surface of the Earth. So Orm grabs the cockroach, shoves it between the layers of his sandwich, and takes a big, happy bite. Goodnight, sweet DCEU, may angelic flights sing you to your rest.
But here I have to implore my fellow human beings: under no circumstances should we turn this into a metaphor. No matter how resonant, absurd or funny the credits scene is Lost Kingdom
Orm’s Burger is inevitably a Rorschach test for cockroaches. The insect can be everything you didn’t like about the DCEU, and Orm, who likes to eat it, is the fan you don’t like by cracking it open. OrOrm is the manager whose meddling ruined the franchise and who happily chooses his counterpart (the cockroach), spelling the collapse of the whole thing (a frankly very appetizing burger). Or maybe, The Burger is somehow the Snyder Cut and Orm is Joss Whedon? I’m sure someone could flesh out this video essay.
But we must draw a line in the sand, like Topo the octopus scurrying away from the blood-drinking deserters and back to the safety of the deep water. We must hold back, like Orm touches the Black Trident. We must escape, like fish in the sea, and be able to say that at the end, at the end of an era, we did not take the bait.