The DCEU Just Killed Off A Character Cast By Zack Snyder In The Coldest Way

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Kills Off Vulko Before the Events of the Movie

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom unceremoniously kills off a DCEU character that Zack Snyder originally cast for Justice League. Aquaman's second solo movie sees him confront his biggest villain, Black Manta, who threatens the whole world with a climate catastrophe. Considering how dangerous Black Manta has become and given that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom serves as the DCEU's final chapter, the likelihood of a major death happening in the Aquaman sequel seemed pretty high since the beginning. However, the DCEU delivers one last surprise with the reveal of who dies in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, or more accurately, who dies before the events of the movie.

Almost the entirety of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's cast is composed of returning characters from the first installment, including Aquaman's two main villains, Patrick Wilson's Orm Marius and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta. And against all odds, all the film's main characters survive until Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom end credits — save for Black Manta, who may have died in the depths of the Lost Kingdom. However, not all of Aquaman's allies escape unharmed, as one major Atlantean hero meets an unfortunate fate some time before the events of the sequel.

Willem Dafoe's Vulko Is Killed Offscreen Before Aquaman 2 Starts

Right after Aquaman's recap of his previous adventures, he confesses to his father that he feels like he's failing to live up to his mentor's legacy. As Aquaman reminisces about Vulko's wish to connect Atlantis to the surface world, he reveals that Vulko died some time before the beginning of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, apparently due to a plague caused by heavy pollution. Shortly afterward, the Atlantean Council of Clans confirms that the world's pollution has started to affect Atlantis, which prompts Aquaman to propose a partnership between Atlantis and the rest of the planet.

Previously, Vulko had appeared in James Wan's Aquaman, where he trained Aquaman as a teenager and introduced him to his own Atlantean nature. Years later, Vulko helped Aquaman fight Orm and claim the Atlantean throne. Willem Dafoe's Nuidis Vulko was set to debut in Justice League, but the movie's theatrical cut removed his scenes before release. It wasn't until Zack Snyder's Justice League restored the director's original vision that Vulko's scenes were included in the crossover movie, which saw Vulko motivate Aquaman to fight for Atlantis and provide him with both his Atlantean armor and Atlanna's trident.

Why Willem Dafoe Didn't Return For Aquaman 2

The real-world reason why Willem Dafoe didn't return in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is that the actor's schedule didn't align with the Aquaman sequel's production, as confirmed by director James Wan in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly. At the time, Willem Dafoe was working on projects such as Wes Anderson's Asteroid City and Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things. Since Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's conflict involved the whole planet, it may have been difficult to justify Vulko's absence without killing him off. Hence, the most convenient and dramatic explanation for Vulko's absence is his death as a direct result of the very threat that Aquaman sets out to stop by the end of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.