Aquaman 2 [best] -

Black Manta is terrifying for 30 minutes. Once he acquires the Black Trident, however, he stops being a character and becomes a plot device. Kordax (voiced by an unrecognizable Pilou Asbæk) is a generic "evil spirit" with no personality, reducing Manta to a snarling zombie. This is a crime against Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who has the physicality and charisma of a true A-list villain.

The plot ignites when Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), still obsessed with avenging his father’s death, stumbles upon the legendary Black Trident—a cursed weapon forged in "Necrus," the lost seventh kingdom of Atlantis (hence the "Lost Kingdom"). The trident is powered by an ancient, malevolent entity named Kordax, a green-skinned, necromantic Atlantean king. aquaman 2

Four years after taking the throne, Arthur Curry faces a vengeful (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who has discovered the cursed Black Trident . The weapon grants Manta the power to command the "Lost Kingdom" of Necrus and its undead king, Kordax, but at the cost of worsening global warming and ocean acidification. To stop Manta's plan to sacrifice his son, Arthur breaks his brother Orm out of prison. The two must reconcile their past to save Atlantis and the surface world. Production & Behind-the-Scenes Controversies Black Manta is terrifying for 30 minutes

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arrives as both a sequel and a swan song. As the final installment in the now-concluded DC Extended Universe (DCEU), it carries the weight of concluding a decade of storytelling. But does it sink or swim? This is a crime against Yahya Abdul-Mateen II,

Director James Wan has cited the 1965 adventure film The Great Race as a tonal inspiration, leaning into the mismatched duo dynamic. Arthur is the brawling, beer-drinking everyman, while Orm is the refined, arrogant strategist. Their chemistry provides the emotional backbone of the film, moving past simple heroics into a story about family reconciliation.