WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League, now streaming on HBO Max.
Zack Snyder's Justice League is finally here, and with a four hour runtime, there is more exploration into each of the heroes than in the theatrical cut. However, even with all that extra time, the film doesn't even acknowledge Arthur Curry's greatest flaw -- his compulsive littering habit. Arthur is Aquaman, the rightful king of Atlantis and a champion to the animals and people who live in and around the ocean, yet he actively pollutes the sea he is sworn to protect.
Zack Snyder's Justice League takes place prior to the events of Aquaman, so Arthur has not yet taken up the mantle as the King of Atlantis, so instead his actions are fueled by his own set of morals. Bruce Wayne meets Arthur in a remote village where Arthur helps to support the community by bringing in fish when the frozen water cuts them off from outside resources, but he also shows some disregard for the environment.
When Arthur rejects Bruce's invitation to join the team, he leaves the village via the ocean, but before he goes, he discards his sweater on the shore and just leaves it there. Thankfully, a local woman picks up the sweater, smells it and prevents it from becoming another piece of garbage that'll pollute the sea. This is surprising for an ocean based hero, even when he isn't yet associated with Atlantis.
Later, after Aquaman saves a small boat captain from a terrible storm, he takes a bottle of liquor and heads back out into the ocean. Again, he strips off his shirt and leaves it behind as litter, but he doubles down on his littering habit when he also tosses aside the empty bottle. Not only does he throw his clothes aside to clog up the ocean, but he also chucks literal trash into the sea.
One explanation for his bad littering habit is that it is a symbol of his rejection of his Atlantean roots. He is throwing away his birthright as he throws away empty liquor bottles and sweaters, polluting the world that's rejected him since birth. He's torn about his human and Atlantean heritage, so he saves those around him while unintentionally harming the ocean he's inherently connected to.
Now, in all seriousness, there is a more simple explanation for Aquaman's repeated littering. It looks cool. Zack Snyder's Justice League has a lot of moments that feel pulled straight from a comic, showing off how badass the heroes look. Jason Momoa's Aquaman is the epitome of this, and the film shows him off whenever it can.
Stripping off his shirt before he goes into the ocean shows off Aquaman's impressive physique and tattoos, but it also shows his connection to the water and his superhuman abilities to withstand these brutal conditions as a master of the sea. However, this makes his littering an unintentionally funny repercussion of that exploration into his character. That being said, the film never acknowledges that his behavior is contradictory to who he's supposed to represent, which only makes the whole concept more ridiculous.
Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is currently available on HBO Max.