Aquaman is one of the most underrated character's in comics. Despite some mixed feelings on the 2011 DC Comics company wide relaunch the New 52, must all can agree that one character who became better with the re imagination was Aquaman. The great Geoff Johns made him an interesting character, a fun character, a bad@$$ character, and even played on the idea that Aquaman was lame in the stories. He took this Aquaman, and made him this Aquaman! This article expresses how I feel about this amazing character and how I would make sure a movie about him would be amazing. These are the 7 things (in no particular order) i'd like to see in an AQUAMAN movie!!!
1) Take 99% Inspiration From the New 52
As I stated in the introduction, Geoff Johns did something miraculous with Aquaman. He made him cool. Despite a few fanboys still going around saying that Aquaman still is lame, the majority of the fan community have now become fans of Aquaman. The first New 52 comic I read of Aquaman's was when he appeared in the Justice League. If you've read the comic you know what scene i'm talking about. Geoff Johns showed the world that Aquaman was a badass and showed us the threat of his villains. I liked Black Manta before the New 52, but I liked him more afterwards. From the Trench to Ocean Master, Aquaman's entire mythology has been stepped up and for a movie to succeed they must use the best version of the character. This one! Another thing that Geoff Johns did that they should include in a film is capitalize on the fact that people think he's lame. In the New 52 you'll find that Aquaman is interviewed by a...hipsterish...guy for his blog. The interviewer says to him
"I'm sure you've heard all the jokes and seen all the skits from Saturday Night Live on YouTube. So how's it feel to be the punchline? How's it feel to be a laughing stock? How's it feel to be nobody's favorite super-hero?"
Aquaman unleashes his very...sharp...trident and knocks some sense in to the guy. They should not only prove to the audience, but prove to the character's in the movie that Aquaman is a force to be reckoned with.
2) Show the World How Awesome His Powers Are!
Aquaman has some amazing powers! Superhuman strength, superhuman durability/stamina, superhuman speed/reflexes, superhuman jump, enhanced senses, and underwater adaption. He's a master swimmer, combatant, tactician, leader, and he's royalty. But then there's the big one. That's right Marine telepathy. Now let's set the record straight. Aquaman (at least in this theoretical film) does not talk to fish. In this version he would simply control them. He could call the nearest giant squid from the depths of the sea for a BA entrance from underwater, or he could call up a shark to munch down on some bad guy body at any time he wants to. He has all aquatic life at his fingertips and could call any of them at any second.
3) A Director Who Can Deliver
One of, if not the, most important thing in a films production is the director. Every film needs one. Without them it's just a script, a hired actors, a crew, money behind it, but no one to guide all of these people and spend this MONEY!!! Here's a short list of directors who could wonderfully bring this film to life (in no particular order).
One of my choices is Alfonso Cuaron. He's shown us with his recent hit Gravity that he can show the audience an amazing world. That's what Atlantis needs to be. The majority of this movie would take place in a mystical, underwater, civilization. Other than SPOILERS, the ending, Gravity took place in space! I saw the behind the scenes footage and my first reaction was shock, because they were on a sound stage. Then I remembered that they didn't actually go in to space and shoot that movie. That's how amazing it was. I know it was technically the FX department who made that happen, but without Cuaron they wouldn't be hired for that job anyway. He also invented new technology for the shooting of this film and I believe that new and or improved tech could and should be used for scenes in Atlantis throughout the film.
My next choice is Darren Aronofsky. He is an amazing director and I think he'd be awesome in this. Not only does he have experience making water look good, like his recent movie Noah, but he's talented and has a beautiful approach towards films. He's been attached to other CBM's like Batman: Year One, Man of Steel, and The Wolverine. None of these ever came to fruition! I think that he would be perfect for a movie like this. He's raw talent and he is a fan of comic books. He could make an Aquaman film visually be spectacular and knows how to make a movie great. Just go to the link here and the link here and you'll know what i'm talking about.
4) The Costume
The costume should have three things. Regalness, an aquatic vibe, a superhero feel, and most importantly it must look cool. That's why I've chosen something like what's to the left of this text. I think they make the colors work well and the added touch of scales and gills are awesome! It looks like he could kill you by just touching you with the armor, which is something I'd like to happen.
You might be thinking, probably aren't, Where is he gonna put his trident? Well I have an idea. The idea is that when he wants it, it just comes to him. Water forms in the shape of it in the air in front of him and then once he grabs it, the trident materializes in to an actual weapon.
Now back to the costume, he would have multiple outfits. This is mainly battle armor. He'd wear something like the Injustice outfit when he's doing his job as King, and he'd wear regular Atlantean clothes when he's doing anything else. I think Marvel got the Atlantean look down, but they would not be blue. Similar clothing would be worn by the Atlanteans though.
5) The Leading Man
Every movie needs a main character, and every main character needs an actor beind them. These are my choices for actors who should portray Aquaman in a film of his name sake. These are in no particular order.
My first choice is Jason Momoa. He has been rumored for the role of Aquaman in Batman vs Superman and I think he fits the role perfectly. While he also fits the DC character's Lobo, Vandal Savage, Bane, and even Ares; I think he could also kill it as Aquaman. He's brought badassness to all of his performances lately, despite how bad the film was, and overall is a very talented actor. You might say "Jason Momoa has brown hair not blonde!". I honestly don't care if he has blonde hair in the film or not, but I think he could pull of the blonde if he went New 52 Justice League. I think his performance on Game of Thrones (click the picture above) speaks for itself.
My next choice is Liam McIntyre. I think he did a great job on the Starz show Spartacus. He had to take over from Andy Whitefield after he died of cancer, but he lived up to Andy's performance in the first season. I think McIntyre is a very talented actor who could take on the role of Aquaman and could crush it. Liam is making career moves that are much Like Jason Momoa's. Does a successful medieval/sword and sandal type show on a premium cable channel. Then do a movie of similar nature and have it flop. I think his next career move should be join the DCCU as Aquaman.
6) Atlantis is in It's Own Universe
If you read my last "10 Things" editorial you'd know what I'm talking about. I think the Aquaman and Wonder Woman movies should be connected. If DC/WB decided to do another team-up movie (other than JL) after BvS then I'd say go with Aquaman vs Wonder Woman/ Atlantis vs Themyscira. How would they be connected? The Greek Gods/Ancient Aliens.
You wonder why the Ancient Greeks woshipped Gods. You wonder why they had stories of demi-gods and monsters. The answer is simply aliens. In these movies,
the Greek Gods would be aliens from another planet who visited earth thousands of years ago. The Humans living at that time called it magic and deemed them gods.
That was their way of
explaining technology they didn't understand. The Aliens disguised themselves as humans, dressed like the humans, and let the humans worship them. Through the centuries these Aliens became tails of myth and fictional character's, from the viewpoint of the Greeks.
Zeus' lightning bolt, a rod that the leader of the Aliens used as a weapon whihc happened to use electricity as it's main power source and offensive tactic (much like these). Appollo's chariot of fire, a small aricraft that's rocket power appeared to be fire. The Aliens went from dictators, to loving parents and embrassed the humans.
Poseidon, who was deemed "God" of the sea, had a fondness for the humans on the island of Atlantis. They worshipped him more than any other God. The Atlanteans, despite being blessed by almost all the gods, worshipped Poseidon because he blessed them with great fishing and gifts from the sea. The Atlanteans stopped worshipping other God's all together and began just to worship Poseidon. Out of jealousy, the other gods found them ungrateful and stopped their flow of blessings. Zeus demanded Poseidon to sink Atlantis to the bottom of the ocean. Poseidon refuses. Zeus then threatens Poseidon saying that if he doesn’t sink Atlantis, Poseidon would be banished to the bottom of the ocean as a mortal left for dead.
Poseidon gives in and sinks Atlantis. But Poseidon then blesses them with the ability to survive underwater and secretly rules them as their king. Zeus eventually finds this
out. Poseidon then says to Zeus that his instructions were to sink Atlantis, he did not say he had to kill them. Zeus lets them live, but says that Poseidon must end his reign has king. Poseidon gives the crown to his half god, half Atlantean son Atlas and the crown has been passed down since.
Years went by and Poseidon made a few trips to Atlantis to check up on his most beloved humans and learned that they anetd to interact with the surface world. They planned to swim up and take over Greece from Alexander the Great. He tells this to Zeus. Zeus becomes furious. He does not want to have his demigod son (Alexander) fight his brother Poseidon's (Atlas), but he does want the Atlanteans to be set straight. Zeus decides to do what Athena did with Themyscira to Atlantis. He pushes them in to their own pocket universe where the "doors" can only be opened two places. Olympus and the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This pocket universe is a seemingly endless sea where the Atlanteans live.
When Zod activated the World Machine, it messe with the worlds atmosphere, structure, and cracked open the door at the bottom of the Atlantic. After the
events of MOS, the U.S. Government, and a certain vigilante, discover blips coming up on radars in the pacific and Atlantic oceans. Two portals to other dimensions lie in each space. One above the sea, one at the bottom of it. They send pilot Steve Trevor to the one in the pacific, and they are working on a boat that could take a crew all the way down there. Their biggest fear (which comes true) is this...What if something from the other side of the portal comes to our world before we go to there's.
7) Show Us What We Don't See in the Deep Blue
The Ocean is a mystery too us. Despite us thinking we do, we don't know of everything in the world. The fantastical water creatures we write, read, draw, hear, see, and most importantly dream about could be down there. We as huamns can't venture down to the depths of the ocean, and sometimes we get lucky enough to have one of those creatures come up to us. The people working on this movie should take that to their advantage. They are allowed to make creatures up and not be totally wrong. They have the room to use thier creativity and thye shoud use it to the best of their ability. All I need is a shot of Aquaman riding up to the shore on the head of a giant octupus. Like so...
Well...that's it! I was gonna do 10 things, but couldn't think of anything else. Make sure to hit the htumbs up button and comment so I know you stopped by. Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to read my artcile, and until next time...