HBO Max's 3-Part Aquaman Series With Rare Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Is A Must-Watch

Published Jul 22, 2026, 4:04 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Aquaman is the star of a TV show created for HBO Max that stands as one of the streaming service's best originals, and it deserves more recognition. DC has plenty of popular heroes, with characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and more leading several animated and live-action projects. There have been multiple DC shared universes over the years across different mediums. In theaters, fans of the comic book giant had to deal with the divisiveness of the DCEU movie timeline, with DC Studios having since scrapped that iteration and started anew with James Gunn's DC Universe. On the small screen, the Arrowverse came up with ambitious crossover events that showed how to make live-action superhero TV as exciting as the movies, and sometimes more. Taking all of those universes, Jason Momoa's Aquaman stands as one of DC's most popular heroes in recent years. The actor has since traded DC roles, debuting as Lobo in the DCU's Supergirl movie. That said, fans can still check out an Aquaman TV show that was inspired by the success of Momoa's take, but tries to do something different. HBO Max released Aquaman: King of Atlantis in 2021, three years after Momoa's first Aquaman movie passed the $1 billion mark at the box office. At the time, Aquaman had easily become one of DC's most popular heroes, with this project being birthed. However, many refused to watch it due to its distinct animation style and the fact that it was unconnected to Momoa's Aquaman, but this series is perfect for DC fans. HBO Max Created An Aquaman Series With DCEU Connections Aquaman: King of Atlantis might not be set in the DCEU or have Momoa voice its version of the DC hero. However, the TV show created for HBO Max has quite a few connections to that live-action franchise. For starters, James Wan, who directed both of Momoa's Aquaman movies, serves as an executive producer on Aquaman: King of Atlantis. Additionally, Cooper Andrews voices Aquaman in the animated series. DCEU fans will recognize the actor for his role as Víctor Vásquez in the DCEU's Shazam! movies, as he played the lovable dad of Billy Batson's family. While Aquaman: King of Atlantis is not canon to the DCEU, the show does take cues from the ending of 2018's Aquaman. The HBO Max original series follows Arthur Curry as he deals with his new role as the King of Atlantis, still being a rookie on the job. In addition to that, key characters from DC's Aquaman movies, like Mera, Vulko, and Orm/Ocean Master, also show up in the animated series — all are voiced by new actors, not their original DCEU stars. Aquaman: King of Atlantis consists of three episodes released one week apart starting on October 14, 2021. Why DC's Aquaman: King Of Atlantis Is Worth Watching Sadly, Aquaman: King of Atlantis was removed from HBO Max in August 2022. That said, for anyone interested in finally checking out the DC series, the Aquaman project is available on digital in movie length — a little over two hours, with all three episodes merged together — in storefronts like Apple TV and Prime Video, or on disc in physical stores. Aquaman: King of Atlantis is one of the DC projects to achieve a rare perfect 100% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one to pay attention to. What initially turned many people off was Aquaman: King of Atlantis' animation, which is stylized and cartoonish, bearing no resemblance to the realistic and more serious take on the character in the DCEU. However, as a standalone animated series, the design serves it well, allowing the Aquaman show to get weird and have a lot of fun with its characters, as well as create vibrant underwater visuals. Viewers might also be interested in the show for its cast, with Invincible's Gillian Jacobs as Mera, The Thundermans' Dana Snyder as Ocean Master, 17 Again's Thomas Lennon as Vulko, and more. Aquaman: King of Atlantis is an underrated DC series that is filled with exciting adventures, charming characters, and creative visuals. Release Date 2021 - 2021-00-00 Network HBO Max Directors Keith Pakiz Cast Cooper Andrews Arthur Curry / Aquaman (voice) Dana Snyder Orm Marius / Ocean Master (voice) Writers Nora Meek, Drew Applegate, Roxann Cole, David Davis, Jack Kaiser McGee, Matt Bolinger, Marie Lum