Aquaman 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated comic book movies of recent times. The original Aquaman was able to shake off the box-office notoriety associated with the DCEU and the various jokes leveled at its titular superhero over the years to become a billion-dollar hit. Now, writer for the movie and its upcoming sequel, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, has taken to Twitter to hint at the inspiration behind Aquaman 2 in response to a fan question.
“Hmm… Good question. We’re not taking any one particular comic book story and adapting it, but if you want to know the vibe we’re going for, pick up pretty much any Silver Age story featuring Black Manta.”
That is a pretty wide source of inspiration, given the many Aquaman comics belonging to that era, but it does narrow the field somewhat in terms of what fans can expect.
The silver age of the 1940s, 50, and early 60s was responsible for adding many of the most popular aspects to the Aquaman mythology as it is known today. In fact, the origin story of Aquaman that we saw in the first movie, where he was the son of Queen Atlanna and a human lighthouse keeper with a half brother Orm was established during the silver age.
This was also the period which introduced the characters of Black Manta, Aquaman’s kid sidekick Aqualad, and his animal sidekick, the octopus Topo. Interestingly, it was also during this time that Aquaman was established to have a weakness similar to Superman’s Kryptonite, where Aquaman needs to be in contact with water once an hour in order to survive.
The silver age of comics is often lauded for changing the comic book game by introducing heroes who are flawed and dealing with personal issues, in direct contrast to the golden age portrayal of superheroes when storylines were simplified with a lack of nuance and a more preachy tone.
So we can reasonably expect to see a more morally gray area explored in the upcoming Aquaman movie. The original movie had a simple premise. Orm wants to destroy the surface world, and his half brother Arthur who lives on land must stop him. The only morally complex scene that occurred in the entire movie was early on when Arthur as Aquaman refuses to save Black Manta’s father when he could have easily done so. This causes Manta to swear revenge against Aquaman.
It seems that this antagonistic relationship built on actual loss and righteous anger will be the basis of Aquaman 2, which is also being hyped as being even bigger than the original movie. This likely means that Aquaman will be getting a few of his allies from the comics to expand the cast of characters, like Topo or Aqualad.
Then there is also the planned horror movie set in the Aquaman universe named The Trench, which will explore the section of the ocean explored in the first film populated by cannibalistic mutant sea creatures. In short, there is a lot to look forward to for fans of the King of the Seven Seas. This news comes from @bravecarrot.