After decades of being the laughing stock of the DC Comics universe, Aquaman is finally getting the chance to shine in his own DC animated feature, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. Hardcore comic book fans have known for some time that there’s more to Aquaman than meets the eye, but general audiences still have a poor perception of the King of Atlantis.
The orange and green tights and ability to talk to fish haven’t really helped him much, but hopefully this iteration of his New 52 revamp will get people excited for his appearance in the burgeoning live-action DC cinematic universe (beginning, of course, with a small cameo in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice).
Aquaman was noticeably absent in last year’s DC animated feature Justice League: War, but a post-credits sequence alluded to his future appearance and a strong focus on how his Atlantean roots would collide with the land dwellers of the JLA. Thanks to TV Guide, we now have our first details about the film, as well as a glimpse at the trident-wielding superhero, which you can see above.
As the title would suggest, the film will serve as a crossover between Aquaman and the Justice League, and actually focus heavily on the character’s origin story. It will stray from the eponymous comic book arc by focusing on a young Arthur Curry. Raised by a human father, Curry doesn’t know about his aquatic heritage, or that he is heir to the throne of the watery kingdom of Atlantis.
Supervising producer James Tucker had this to say about their approach:
“We meet him at a low point in his life. He’s a little bit lost. His father has died and he’s always been an outsider, so the one person who had his back is now gone. When that Atlanteans instigate incidents to escalate a war with the surface world, he doesn’t yet know who he is. As the discovers his true history he’s going to have a lot of choices to make. It’s definitely about him finding his own path.”
In addition to telling Aquaman’s origin, the filmmakers hope to help his tarnished public image as well:
“A lot of times with Aquaman people just focus on his powers and their opinion of them as being lame – which I don’t believe – and that’s all they think of him. Hopefully we’ve made him a person in people’s eyes first. And then the powers and the telepathy with fish and all that can be put in perspective.”
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is slated for a straight-to-home video, digital download, and On Demand release early next year. 90210 actor Matt Lanter, who voiced Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, is lending his voice to the Atlantean superhero, and will be joined by Justice League: War voice actors Jason O’Mara (Batman), Shemar Moore (Cyborg), Christopher Gorham (Flash), and Sean Astin (Shazam), with new additions Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern), Rosario Dawson (Wonder Woman), Jerry O’Connell (Superman), Sam Witwer (Aquaman’s brother Orm) and Sumalee Montano (Aquaman’s wife, Mera).