Aquaman: Every Moment Pulled Straight From The MCU
All the ways the DCEU looked to the MCU to craft their biggest hit.
After over five years now of wonderfully high highs and viciously low lows, the DCEU looks to have its second bona fide hit on its hands with the success of Aquaman.
The film has been dominating the box office, already placing as the highest-grossing DCEU entry worldwide, and has earned the DCEU its most positive reviews this side of Wonder Woman. But it is also, yet again, a marked change of course for the franchise.
Much like Suicide Squad and Justice League before it, Aquaman aims to take a hard turn into a distinctly lighter and more upbeat tone than the Snyder films. The difference is that Aquaman does so successfully, unlike the monster-mashes that were Suicide Squad and Justice League.
Which means that as solid as Aquaman is, it's also something of a walking paradox. With its lighter tone, colorful visuals, and jokes, Aquaman has way more in common with the MCU films the DCEU started out as a direct contrast to than it does with its own franchise.
Here are all of the moments in Aquaman that are, quite literally, ripped from the pages of the MCU playbook.
6. The Opening Fight Scene (Captain America: Winter Soldier)
The film's narrative proper begins with an action sequence at sea, as Aquaman foils a band of high-tech pirates from stealing a submarine.
This is incredibly similar to the opening setpiece of the Russo Brothers' Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The MCU film's sequence features Cap fighting a band of terrorists who are attempting to take over a ship, using his shield and hand-to-hand tactics to take them down, and ultimately foiling their villainous plans.
In Aquaman, Arthur does exactly the same thing. But what makes it all a bit too on the nose is the way in which Arthur spends a good chunk of this setpiece throwing around a round-shaped submarine door, with it bouncing off of walls and coming back to him just like Cap's shield.
Also worth noting, Winter Soldier features a villain's origin story within its own narrative with Crossbones' arc, effectively setting him up for use in later films. Aquaman essentially does the exact same thing with Black Manta in this film, giving him an origin across the film, only to then sideline him for later use.