I don’t know about you, but one thing I’ve loved about Young Justice and its time jumps between seasons is how it’s allowed for the heroes to grow – and to introduce others. To cite one example, Dick Grayson started out as Robin, then became Nightwing during the show’s sophomore year. Subsequently, that allowed for the producers to bring in a successor to the Robin mantle, Tim Drake, and it’s looking like Damian Wayne will soon carry the torch in season 3.
Similarly, one of Dick’s oldest buddies will step up to the big leagues when the beloved animated series makes its highly anticipated return in just over two weeks in the form of Young Justice: Outsiders. I am, of course, talking about Kaldur’ahm, whom you’ve come to know as Aqualad.
But unlike Grayson, who came into his own as Nightwing, Kaldur is actually adopting his mentor’s name with pride. Seen below in an image revealed by Entertainment Weekly, we’re given our first look at the new Aquaman in town.
Here’s what producer Greg Weisman told the publication regarding the big transition:
“We established back in season 1 that King Orin was training Kaldur to take his place as Aquaman. Aquaman was also King of Atlantis, which to most people would be a full-time job, and yet he also had to be in the Justice League as Aquaman, which was a lot on his plate. His game plan was to train Kaldur’ahm to be the new Aquaman so he could go back to being King of Atlantis, which was plenty. What you’ll see in this season is that after everything that’s happened in season 1 and season 2, and the leadership qualities that Kaldur has shown, Orin looks at Kaldur and says, ‘You’re ready.’ It’s a pretty momentous year for him.”
Obviously, this is an ambitious move to be made by the creative minds, what with an Aquaman movie poised to storm cinemas. From the sound of it though, Weisman and his colleagues saw this as an opportunity:
“Now that there’s an Aquaman movie out, everyone gets how that’s a cool viable character. Ten years ago, when we were developing this show, people were like, ‘Really, you want to include Aqualad?’ We thought we could create someone that could kick ass, and I think we’ve proved that.”
Young Justice: Outsiders premieres on Friday, January 4th on DC Universe.