AQUAMAN
We begin in the ocean. A crab fishing boat. It's captain: a ruggedly handsome fisherman in his early 30s. He catches what he needs and returns back towards the lighthouse where he lives. That night he hears a scream, and then what sounds like gunfire. He grabs his lantern and heads out to discover a woman, injured and bleeding from a leg wound. Around her are dead men in armor, it's appearance is shiny in places, in others it looks similar to coral. It's reddish, otherworldly and adorned with complex patterns. The men are masked in strange helmets with fins made to resemble fish faces. He carries the woman into his lighthouse, telling her he has medical supplies inside. Cut to a year later, she is leaving him now. She tells him to watch over their child. He asks why he and the boy can't go with her. She tells him that Atlantian society would never accept them. If they or the Xebel’s find the boy, they will kill him. For his own safety he must stay on the surface. She promises to return one day, when the war is over. She jumps into the sea.
Cut to a different kind of liquid: alcohol. A bar fight. Arthur Curry is fighting several fishermen. He tells them he knows they've been killing sharks, and selling their fins out in international waters. They're going to pay for that. They call him a dumb kid, and tell him to run back to his daddy's lighthouse. They fight. He wins. The cops are called. He heads down to the station. He tells the cops what happened, and they say they'll look into it. They tell him he needs to stay out of the bars, and one more fight and he's going away. He needs to think of and drop him off at home. Arthur's returns home to find his father sprawled across the kitchen floor. He checks on him, and his father says he was trying to get something. He picks him up and carries him back into bed. He tells him he should have waited for him to get home. His father coughs. He's very sick.
His father asks Arthur if he ever told him how he met his mother. Arthur says no, he hasn't. His father begins telling him that she was the queen of Atlantis, driven to shore by a Great War. She had been injured in his escape, but he found her, and nursed her back to help. Over time they both began to fall in love. That's why he's such a good swimmer. That's why he's so strong. It's in his blood. Arthur looks on in sadness. Cut to the next day, at a hospital. Arthur is telling the doctor his father has been telling that same story every night since the sickness came. The doctor tells him his dad doesn't have long left. Cut to a palace hall, underwater. Two guards, in armor similar to the armor we saw at the beginning, but green and orange instead of red and gold, with different style helmets, patrol the hall. A woman swims out of the room at the end of the hall and tell the guards that the Queen is dead.
In another area, a meeting takes place between Orm, the son of the Queen and heir to the throne, and the King of the Xebel, a kingdom that has been at war with Atlantis for centuries. Today, they plan to broker a truce, ending the war once and for all. Orm is in black and silver/ purple robes(made of leather from a killer whale) Orm is a smooth talker, and a schemer, King Ryus is direct, letting his actions speak for him. Orm asks King Ryus to sit, and one of Nereus’ servants tells Orm that a king sits on a throne. Two servants of Nereus bring in a throne, adorned with the skulls of Atlanteans that the Xebel have killed. Orm stares at them, annoyed and confused. He tells Ryus that he had thought the time for threats was over. Nereus tells him he has made no threats, only sat in his chair. Orm tells him that they both seem to be in agreement on the terms, just to be clear though: Ryus eldest daughter shall be granted to him as a queen, marrying their families together and ending the war. Nereus tells him that is the agreement. Orm asks to meet the princess Mera. She swims in, and Orm kisses her hand, a bit too long. From the look on her face she is not comfortable around Orm. Ryus tells his daughter to be good, and says goodbye. Orm tells Mera that he has a room prepared for her, and she will be gifted with only the finest food and clothing in the kingdom. Anything she asks for will be hers. Murk, a high ranking soldier, the commander of Atlantis’s troops, rushes in, informing Orm that he is needed immediately. Orm asks angrily if it can wait. Can't he see he is busy? Murk tells him that the Queen is dead. Orm is shocked, and seemingly devastated. He asks to see her. He is brought into her chambers, Murk, the servant who found her, and Mera behind him.
The servant tells Orm that his mother’s last words trouble her. Orm perks up and turns to her, slowly asking what she said. The servant tells Orm that the Queen told her in her last words that he was not her eldest son. She had sired another, with a surface dweller, and hidden him away in the surface world. Orm says that she must have lost her sanity before she died. Now he feels much more terrible knowing how badly she suffered. Murk says that they don't know if it was a delusion. Orm asks if he thinks that the Queen, his mother, had somehow had another child, and hidden it away without anyone knowing, with a surface dweller no less! Murk says that she had been missing for nearly a year after the Xebel assault on the capital. She could have had a child then. They should send a search party to the surface, just in case. Mera volunteers to lead it. Orm asks her why, saying he doesn't understand. Mera says that if there is an elder son, he will be her husband, not Orm.
Back in Amnesty Bay, Arthur Curry walks home late at night. He's been out drinking. He passes a store with GCS set up in the window. There’s footage of Superman saving a school bus. A large pickup truck, blasting music comes down the street. Arthur realizes it's the men from the other day, from the bar fight. They hop out of the car, calling him “greenpeace” and asking if he knew they’d gone out and skinned 50 more just today. They dumped the chum in the water and then all they had to do was wait. They'd made good money. Arthur says he's a lot stronger than he showed in the bar, and they should get away while they still can. One throws an empty can of beer at Arthur. He turned around and punched him in the face. The others descend upon him, pummeling him from all sides. Arthur fights back, grabbing one and throwing him across the street. A guy grabs a crowbar out of his truck, when suddenly he's stabbed from behind. Behind him, a man in red and gold armor. A Xebel soldier. Others come out from an alley behind him. The remaining men run, as does Arthur. Arthur runs through the streets, seeing that the lighthouse is on fire through the buildings. He runs, jumping up over a building and crashing into the lighthouse. He runs through the fire, searching for his father only to find charred remains. A Xebel soldier attacks him in the fire. He fights back, pulling off the armor, grabbing the man's sword, and stabbing him with it.
He throws the body out of the fire, discovering several other Xebel soldiers. He yells at them, screaming in rage that they killed his father! He's going to kill every one of them! He fights them, killing them all. Several try to hit him with water they've minipulated from the sea and knock him away but fail. Mera arrives, telling him that she needs to come with her. She dives into the water, and he hesitates to follow, the water raging and hitting against the cliff side. She yells at him that he's Atlantean, he can breathe underwater. Arthur is shocked, saying to himself that his father want crazy. He looks at the burning lighthouse bad says he's sorry before diving into the ocean. He follows Mera, and discovering he can talk under water, asks who she is. She says that she is from Atlantis, and has been sent to find him. All will be revealed if he follows her. Mera orders him to go in a certain direction. As they swim, Mera begins to trail behind. Arthur tells her that those men, or whatever they were, killed his father, and burnt down his home. Mera tells him she's sorry. He says that his father used to tell him as a kid his mother was Atlantean, but as he grew up, he stopped believing him. His father had started telling him the same story before he died. He thought he was crazy. He asks Mera how she found him. She tells him that she had been searching the beaches nearest to where the Queen’s convoy was when they were attacked years ago. He asks if he's going to meet his mother. She says he might. When she saw the soldiers, she knew this had to be the place. Mera tells him she is truly sorry for everything that has happened to him today.
Mera creates a dagger out of compressed water and prepares to stab Arthur from behind when Murk, and a group of Atlantean soldiers arrive riding sharks. Mera destroys the dagger and introduces Arthur to Murk. Murk tells Arthur he's the royal army’s commander. Arthur is the king of Atlantis by blood, and he will serve him however he needs. Arthur tells Murk that his father was just murdered by Xerel soldiers. Murk tells him it's Xebel, and orders several guards to watch Mera. Arthur asks why, and says it's not needed, she saved him. Murk tells Arthur that Mera is a Xebel. Arthur tells the soldiers to let go of Mera, and they obey. Later, he asks Murk how they are able to control their shark steeds. Murk tells him that Atlanteans can naturally meld minds with the creatures of the sea and control them. Arthur tries it and nothing happens. The group travel many miles, eventually to arrive at the base of a trench, they travel down and arrive at Atlantis, and Arthur takes in the site. It's magnificent. Ancient, glowing with energy and power, Greco-Roman yet at the same time modern in its technology. It's bright, colored like a coral reef. Atlanteans and fish, whales, and sharks swim. A giant seahorse passes Arthur and he looks at it in awe. The city is built on the floor of the trench, but there is another larger trench that reaches deeper at the edge of the city. As they swim to the palace Arthur is looked at by the citizens with awe, reverence, and with a few disgust.
Arthur is brought into the Royal Palace, where Orm waits for him. Orm swims up to him, greeting him as brother and hugging him a strangely long time. Arthur asks who he is. Orm tells Arthur that he is his half brother. He had feared the worst about Arthur, and believed that after all this time he had been killed, but now they are together. Arthur asks where his mother is. Orm tells him that sadly, she passed away only a few days before his arrival. Arthur tells Orm his father was killed by Xebel soldiers. He has no family left. Orm says he has him, no, they have each other! He then asks Murk what he means by Xebel soldiers. Murk says both him and Mera have witnessed Xebel soldiers. Orm tells Murk to prepare a team of his finest soldiers. They will march to Xebel and find out the truth.
Murk leaves and Orm tells Arthur to follow him as Mera swims off. Orm gets Arthur Atlantean clothes to change into. He gets some orange and green armor. The orange shirt area appears to be made of scales. He tells Arthur that until they learned of his existence, he was set to be the king. Now, Arthur will be the king. He needs to be prepared though. The thing is, many Atlanteans are uncomfortable with a surface dweller as a leader. He has nothing against them personally, but many in Atlantis don't like the idea. Arthur must show strength and dignity wherever he goes from this moment on. Arthur says he can do that. Arthur then asks who Mera is. Orm tells Arthur that in the ocean, there are seven kingdoms. The Xebel, and the Atlanteans have been at war for generations. Mera is a peace offering. The Xebel are losing the war, so their king has decided that to prevent further bloodshed, he will give his eldest daughter to marry the next in line for King of Atlantis. It was him, now it is Arthur. Once the marriage is complete, the two most powerful kingdoms in the sea will be united as one. Prophecy tells the one to unite the two kingdoms will eventually unite the entire ocean with the power of Neptune's Trident.
Later, Arthur approaches Mera in an undersea garden. He asks her about how she has been arranged to marry him. He wants to know if she's okay with the process. If not, he could talk to Orm, or maybe her father, and try and find an alternative. She tells him that she is here to do what is best for her people. She after thinking, thanks him for his caring.
As Arthur swims away, Murk approaches him, saying he wants to introduce the troops to their new king. Cut to Orm, giving Arthur a trident, and the classic ocean master helmet. Arthur says the helmet is a bit small, and Orm says he’ll have a new one made. Arthur goes of see his troops, and they float at attention. One though, swims up to Arthur. He says that for twenty years he faithfully served his mother the queen. Arthur thanks him. The soldier continues that now though, he can see everything he fought for was a lie. He tells Murk he's quitting, and swims away. Murk apologizes to Arthur. Arthur says it's fine. Murk tells Arthur he’ll be gone for a few days. He is going to Xebel, located in what surface dwellers call "The Bramuda Triangle" He's leading an army to the heart of Xebel for answers.
Later, Arthur sits in his room, contemplating things. He goes to tell Orm that he's been thinking, and after all this with the Xebel is over, he wants to go back to land. He thinks the people would be happier with Orm as the king. Orm says he's sorry it had to be like this, but he understands completely. Putting the people first is the mark of a good king. That's what Arthur is doing now by putting him in charge.
Later, Orm heads into Mera’s room, where he tells her Arthur plans to leave. He will be become the king in Arthur's place. Mera says that that's good for him. Orm continues, he will be king, and she will be his queen. He get uncomfortably close to her, and she pushes him back with water. She says she is not married to him yet. He holds up his fist in anger, then calms down, apologizes, says she's absolutely right, and leaves.
Mera contacts her father through a radio device after Orm leaves, and tells him that she's ready to kill Orm, but believes Arthur is leaving the kingdom and will not need to be killed. Arthur is trying and failing to mind meld with a fish somewhere in the castle. Arthur swims by Meras room and goes in to talk to Mera, and she asks him what life on land was like. He describes some land stuff to her. Played for laughs.
A servant enters the throne room as Orm sits on the throne thinking, saying that there is important news from the medicine people. They must speak to Orm and Arthur immediately. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Atlantean territory, Murk leads his troops, riding on sharks and whales. Suddenly, Xebel troops attack. Their numbers triple the Atlanteans. They manipulate the water to pummel their foes. All except Murk are killed, but Murk loses and eye and arm. He escapes, and swims back towards Atlantis to get help.
Orm and Arthur go to the medicine man, who tells them both he found poison in the Queen's blood. She did not die of natural causes, she was murdered. Arthur says it had to have been the Xebel. Murk arrives and collapses after telling them he was attacked at the border. Orm says that no one knew of their plans, and the Xebel attack had to have been well prepared to kill their best men! There had to be a traitor who told the Xebel. Orm orders guards to find Mera. Arthur says they don't know if it was her. Orm says that they can't take the chance of letting a possible Xebel spy run free. Mera is found and imprisoned in the dungeons. A soldier tells Orm and Arthur that they found a communication device in her room. She was speaking with the Xebel through it. Arthur is distraught at learning this news. Orm changes into black and gold armor, reminiscent of his comic costume. He tells Arthur that they tried to have peace, but the Xebel refused to listen. Now is the time for war. He puts on the Ocean Master helmet and grabs a tritant. He says he's going to go rally the troops to attack Xebel. Arthur is welcome to join the battle.
Arthur goes to the dungeons, where Mera is. Her cell is surrounded by guards. She has been put in a dry cell, where she cannot use her powers of water minipulation. He asks her why she did it. She says she had to do what was best for her people. She only wanted peace. She was going to kill Orm and him, and with Atlantis lacking a leader, it would be easy to topple them and for her father to take over. She says though, that she didn't kill his father, or the queen. She has no idea how they died. Arthur calls her a liar, and says she's trying to turn him against his brother. She says she never mentioned Orm, any ideas he has related to Orm came from his mind. Orm watches as his troops March out of the city. Arthur swims up to him, and tells him he spoke to Mera. She didn't have anything to do with the deaths of their parents. Orm says he's surprised Arthur actually believes her. She's a spy! A Xebel! They're evil! They killed their parents! They've killed thousands of Atlanteans over the years! Arthur says he's not really sure what to believe, but he spoke to a servant. Orm was the last one to see the Queen before her death. Orm says he just wanted to talk to his mother. Arthur grabs him and holds him against the wall.
Orm gestures for Arthur to follow him inside. He closes the doors and they leave the balcony, entering the throne room. He then tells Arthur, he couldn't stand to see mother suffer. Then, once she began speaking nonsense about a surface dweller son, he knew she had lost her mind. He couldn't let her suffer anymore, so he killed her. Then, everything was better. He would be king, he would have a beautiful queen, and the war that has lasted so long would be over. But, his bride hated him. The surface dwelling heir turned out to really exist. He realized his mother had always been insane. You would have to be to lay with a surface dweller. He decided to fix her mistake, return the kingdom that was rightfully his to him, and at the same time, sow the seeds to cause one final glorious battle against the Xebel, and take their kingdom by force. He hired mercenaries from the Xebel lands to kill Arthur, then kill the troops he had sent. Arthur punches Orm, and tosses him back. Orm tells him violence will not stop the troops.
Arthur fight Orm, who tosses him into the throne, then tries to stab him with his trident. Arthur grabs a sword from a wall decoration, and they battle across the throne room. Orm is vicious and fast, Arthur is just dying to survive. Mera arrives and pushes Orm back with her water manipulation skills. Orm yells in anger, telling Arthur he really is an idiot surface dweller. She's plotting to kill them both! Mera says that as of now she's only plotting to kill him. Meanwhile in Xebel’s capital city, an Atlantean horde descends, complete with sharks, whales, sea serpents, and a kraken. The Xebel soldiers fire up at their attackers and soldiers swim towards the Atlanteans. King Ryus watches and orders his troops to attack. Orm brags to his attackers that he has trained his entire life oath the finest fighters in Atlantis. He slices into Arthur, bloodying the water. Sharks begin to swim towards them. Mera splashes at him concentrated water bursts. He dodges some with a shield but not all as he is knocked away.
In Xebel, Ryus has grabbed a massive sword and is in the thick of the battle. He is harpooned but breaks it off. Buildings crumble in the battle as the Kraken attacks. In the throne room Orm grabs Mera by the neck and slams her into a wall. He kicks Arthur in the side, where he was sliced by the trident, as sharks circle. Orm laughs maniacally as the sharks swim towards Arthur, screaming that he is the master of the oceans, he is the chosen one to unite the seven kingdoms, when…. Arthur's mind merges with the sharks, and sends then at Orm. They drag him away. Orm screams as they drag him out of the throne room.
Arthur tells Mera they have to get to Xebel. She says the Sharks won't be fast enough to ride. Cut to them on a giant, majestic, spike covered armored seahorse that is strangely intimidating. They arrive at the battle. Troops look up in awe on both sides as a giant wall of bubbling water separates them. Soldiers look up to Arthur as he swims down. Arthur finds Murk, and tells him to call of the horde. He wants a full retreat. Everything that happened was Orm’s doing. A shell trumpet is blown, and the troops retreat. Ryus orders his troops to follow and slaughter them all for what they did, but Mera refuses to drop her water wall, telling her father to turn the troops around. This attack was the fault of Orm, who she has helped kill. Ryus says that that is good, now they can kill the surface dweller and Atlantis will be theirs. Mera says she will not allow it. If he kills Arthur, she will not forgive him. Ryus tells his soldiers to fall back.
Arthur leads his troops home with Murk at his side. He is describing the events that transpired to Murk, who tells him he never could have guessed how treacherous Orm truly was. He tells Arthur oath Orm gone, Atlantis will need someone to lead it. Arthur accepts this. He will be their king. Arthur sees Mera swimming nearby watching from afar and leaves to speak to her. She tells him that the peace they brought will not last. Eventually her father will attack, or another rogue Atlantean. She tells him that in her opinion, the only way to prevent another war would be for them to get married.
The End
Next time, BLACK MANTA, THE TRIDENT OF NEPTUNE, MERA ENRAGED, THE DEAD KING, and possibly Nereus. I haven't decided yet on him.