Jason Momoa’s first solo outing as the king of Atlantis has a lot riding on its success…
Aquaman, which is set to come out in less than a month, has, much to my immense surprise, broken Avenger: Infinity War‘s record ticket pre-sales. That means there are a LOT of people who are excited to see this movie. And that’s great for the DC Universe considering that most of the franchise’s films have been given utterly horrid reviews. Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League, all of these films have underwhelmed in ways that were ultimately disappointing. The only film in the franchise to garner any positive feedback was Wonder Woman which was heralded for its enjoyable story and record-breaking box-office results.
Now Arthur Curry a.k.a Aquaman is the next hero to get his own standalone film and it looks like this just may be the franchise’s best chance for redemption. The trailers and tv spots have looked absolutely incredible. The concept for Aquaman’s world is truly stunning. And the action looks phenomenal. I can’t imagine how it’s going to look in IMAX.
Up to this point, there haven’t really been any movies in the DC Universe I have been excited to see but this film actually intrigues me. Aquaman is the type of character that fits the adventurous Marvel hero mould which I have grown to love so much. But is that a good thing or will that ultimately be the downfall of this movie?
Marvel has built a seemingly unstoppable franchise because their lovable heroes are placed in engaging films. The DC Universe has tried to mirror Marvel’s fun style of movie making and move away from the more austere set of films that they had first brought out and as you can see it hasn’t been the greatest plan of attack for the franchise. What I used to love about DC Comics’ movies was that they were different than Marvel’s films.
Movies like Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman may have been a bit dour but at least I didn’t feel like I was watching a Marvel movie with Superman in it. Aquaman basically is following the same adventurous tone as any Marvel origin story film except it’s following Aquaman’s story. In fact, test audiences have already compared it to Thor: Ragnarok. How boring is that?
What happened to the days of The Dark Knight trilogy when films branded with the DC Comics logo truly felt like epic masterpieces that didn’t try to be fun and adventurous like a Marvel movie?
Now, I’m sure Aquaman is going to be enjoyable. Heck, I can’t wait to see it. And I’m sure if it turns out to be as good as it looks it’ll be quite the joy to watch during the Christmas season. But if it flops then it just may be the franchise’s last straw of proving that they have a superhero universe worth caring about. Especially knowing that the next film to debut in the franchise will be Shazam! which I’m definitely not jumping up and down to see.
A lot is riding on Aquaman’s shoulders but if he can manage to hold his own against our waves of intrigue he may just be the DC Comics hero the franchise needs.
Aquaman swims into cinemas in the UK on December 12th and the U.S. on Dec. 21.
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Author
Hello everyone. My name is Annlyel James. I’m a young woman who loves movies of all genres (specifically ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel movies.) I am also a Senior Correspondent for The Future of the Force.
