Aquaman in popular media

Adaptations of Aquaman in other media
Created by	Mort Weisinger (writer) Paul Norris (artist)
Original source	Comics published by DC Comics
First appearance	More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)
Films and television
Television show(s)	The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967) Aquaman (2006)
Games
Video game(s)	Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis (2003)

Aquaman has made several appearances in numerous media and has been referenced beyond the scope of traditional comics superhero entertainment.

Animated television

The Filmation animated series

Aquaman in The Superman/ Aquaman Hour of Adventure

Aquaman's first media appearance was as the star of his own animated series, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, from 1967 until 1968; the series failed to find a large audience, but fans consider it a better showcase for the character than the better known Super Friends series that followed.^{[citation needed]} The series featured Mera, Aqualad, a pet walrus named Tusky, and Aquaman and Aqualad's large seahorses, Storm and Imp. In addition to his usual array of abilities, this version of Aquaman had the power to throw 'water balls' which had considerable concussive impact. Aquaman was voiced by Marvin Miller, better known as the voice of Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.

Super Friends

Aquaman along with the other prominent characters from Super Friends

He was also a major character in the original season of the animated television series Super Friends (1973). Super Friends is often credited with having exposed Aquaman to a much wider audience outside of the comic book community.^{[citation needed]} In this series, Aquaman was shown to display superstrength—hefting a bulldozer blade over his head, for example, and using it to help stop a tidal wave.^[1] He also had encyclopedic knowledge of oceanography and oceanology, in addition to his more familiar water-breathing power and aquatic telepathy. However, this series been blamed for making Aquaman unpopular by and even laughable by reinforcing a weak image of the character.^[2] In the first two seasons of Super Friends, he was voiced by Norman Alden, and for the rest of the series he was voiced by Bill Callaway.

The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour

The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour aired on Cartoon Network Latin America in 2003 and was produced by Wild Hare Studios of Atlanta, GA.^[3] The show, which lasted 7 episodes, was a parody of Aquaman's appearances on the Super Friends animated series. In this series, Aquaman is now the host of children's television series. He is being pursued by the Legion of Doom, who had spent their entire operating budget on attempts to conquer the world and now have to rent out parts of The Hall of Doom as apartments to generate income.^[4] Aquaman was chosen as the lead character in this parody series because the producers were not allowed to use the full cast of the Super Friends due to Justice League airing in the United States.^[5] The series is separate from the Cartoon Network commercials that aired in the United States that featured Aquaman and Wonder Woman being saved from the Legion of Doom by The Powerpuff Girls and the Aquaman Dance Party commercials that aired during Adult Swim.

DC animated universe

Superman: The Animated Series

The character made an appearance in one episode of the 1990s animated television series Superman: The Animated Series, where he was voiced by Miguel Ferrer. He was drawn in the "classic" Aquaman appearance as having an orange shirt, green gloves, green pants with green boots, a gold belt with gold "A" insignia belt buckle, short hair, and a clean-shaven face. In the episode, Aquaman, regarded as an urban legend, comes into conflict with Lex Luthor when one of Luthor's undersea construction plans starts causing damage to Aquaman's home, Atlantis. As King of Atlantis, he tries to stop the tests peacefully but his "peaceful" attempts are "met with violence and capture." Lois Lane finds him a prisoner of LexCorp's institute, and she is in turn captured and taken to be killed with him, but Aquaman manages to escape with Lois and returns to stop the tests under the ocean. He almost attacks the surface world with his army, but Superman dissuades him from doing so. When Aquaman tries to leave peacefully, one of Luthor's men tries to shoot him in the back, unsuccessfully, and Aquaman's army in turn destroys Luthor's vessel. Aquaman advises Superman to make sure the "surface dwellers" show more respect to the oceans in the future before disappearing.

Batman Beyond

As seen in the Batman Beyond episodes "The Call: Part 1" (airdate November 11, 2000) and "The Call: Part 2" (airdate November 18, 2000), Aquaman's daughter Aquagirl is a member of a future Justice League. During the episode, Terry McGinnis/Batman goes over profiles of the current Justice League members. According to Aquagirl's profile, Aquaman is currently missing.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited

Aquaman has guest starred in several episodes of the animated television series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, where he was voiced by Scott Rummell. This version was based closely on the hot-headed anti-hero persona (the producers were aiming for "Conan underwater") of the 1994 and 2001 Aquaman comic book series, with the Viking-like appearance and hook. Here, he sacrificed his hand to save his infant son from being killed in a plot against his life by his evil brother Orm. In the season two episode, "Hereafter", he is listed as a member of the Justice League on the Watchtower database after Superman was sent into the future. He later appeared in an homage episode alongside Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman that pitted them against the Ultimen, modern pastiches of Samurai, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and the Wonder Twins from the Super Friends (Wind Dragon, Longshadow, Juice, Downpour, and Shifter, respectively). Though he was a founding member of the Justice League in the comic books, he was left out of the main lineup for the animated series in favor of Hawkgirl so that the team could have another female character opposite Wonder Woman. While the Justice League series remains popular, a number of Aquaman fans were genuinely disappointed that their hero was not included as a regular character.^{[citation needed]} According to the website Television Without Pity, producers created Devil Ray and removed Aquaman and Black Manta from the series before the episode "To Another Shore" because the rights to Aquaman were no longer available due to an embargo on the characters because of the proposed and unaired Aquaman series Mercy Reef.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Aquaman is a regular supporting character on the television series Batman: The Brave and the Bold and has been featured in seven episodes. He is voiced by John DiMaggio.^[6] As always, Aquaman is king of Atlantis and protector of all the seas. He is described by Batman as a friendly, happy-go-lucky adventurer with a "Larger-than-life" personality; he has habits of giving his exploits titles such as "The Mystery of The Stolen Statue" and "The Secret of the Mechanical Sea Monster", and telling these tales to anyone within distance of his voice. He uses the phrase "Outrageous!" whenever he is shocked and peppers his speech with sea-based references. As always, he can breathe underwater, has super strength and the ability to communicate telepathically with sea life. Like other televised versions of Aquaman, he could manipulate the water around him; creating balls, swords, and shields. His character design is based primarily on his classic character design, but with a beard.

In the episode "Evil Under the Sea!" Aquaman's brother, Orm, starts speaking to him for the first time since he's become king, and Batman comes over to investigate seismic activity. It is revealed that Black Manta is secretly controlling sea creatures for his own purposes and is behind the seismic activity Batman is investigating. Orm is working for Manta, and becomes Ocean Master to fight his brother. Orm is ultimately betrayed by Manta, but helps Aquaman escape to stop him. Batman and Aquaman stop Manta, and Orm is forced to sit in a cell and listen to Aquaman read records of his past adventures.

In "Journey to the Center of the Bat!" Batman is infected with a disease by Chemo, who is being controlled by Brain. Aquaman teams up with Atom to cure Batman while Batman takes on Chemo and the Brain. Although their differing personalities make Atom irritated, the partnership becomes mutual as they defeat the seed virus in Batman's brain.

Aquaman has an Injustice Syndicate counterpart, not named but possibly Barracuda from the comics, physically similar but portrayed with green skin and hair and a blue and black costume. The original appears in the season one finale, hunting Batman because the disguised Owlman has impersonated him and framed him for various crimes.

Aquaman reappears in "Mystery in Space!", severely depressed and lacking any of his usual confidence. Batman takes him along to the planet Rann to help Adam Strange in order to figure out what happened. Eventually, Aquaman reveals that he has become disillusioned with his heroism after failing to save a group of whales from poachers. However, he is able to overcome his depression and help save Rann from invaders. By the end of the episode, he has reverted back to his old self.

In "Mayhem of the Music Meister!", Aquaman is one of several heroes who initially falls under the sway of the title villain and is forced to sing and obey his commands. In "The Fate of Equinox!", he is one of several heroes who contribute their powers to Batman to defeat Equinox. In "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!", his wife Mera convinces him to tour the U.S in a RV with their son Arthur Jr. (revealed here to be alive, unlike his comic counterpart, and a teenager). Aquaman cannot resist the call of adventure and interrupts his vacation to sneak away and battle various supervillains, though the heroes he meets insist that he take his vacation. In "Sidekicks Assemble!", Aquaman teams up with Batman and Green Arrow to battle Ra's al Ghul.

In the teaser for "Clash of the Metal Men!", he returns to Atlantis to find that the population has fallen under the control of Starro. He himself is captured as well, though he is eventually freed from the mind control in "The Siege of Starro! Part Two". He assists Batman and the Atom against Bug-Eyed Bandit in the teaser for "The Criss Cross Conspiracy!". In "Darkseid Descending!", he joins the Justice League International.

Young Justice

Aquaman appears as a member of the JLA in the Young Justice series voiced by Phil LaMarr^[7] making it the second time Aquaman has been voiced by a Futurama voice actor. He resembles his bearded appearance, but wears a type of footwear that exposes the heel and toe areas. In "Independence Day," he and Aqualad end up defeating Killer Frost in Hawaii. He and the other adult mentors of the sidekicks end up called away to help Zatara and the other Justice League members prevent Wotan from blotting out the sun. In "Fireworks," he and the other Justice League members arrive at the ruined Cadmus building following Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, and Superboy's fight with Blockbuster. When the sidekicks and Superboy wanted some involvement with the Justice League, Aquaman ends up agreeing with Batman and Green Arrow resulting in the formation of Young Justice. In "Downtime," Aquaman tells Aqualad that he had learned what happened following the team's fight with Clayface from Batman (who deduced that Aqualad's homesickness for Atlantis is why the team was defeated). Aquaman ends up called away to help the Justice League with a fire breakout in California.

Live-action television

Smallville

Arthur "AC" Curry appeared in an episode of the television series Smallville titled "Aqua", which aired on October 20, 2005. The episode features Arthur investigating the devastating effects on marine life from a project Lex Luthor has been developing for the U.S. military. In the process he also manages to date Lois Lane before leaving to continue his fight for the ecosystem. Like his Filmation counterpart, this version of the character is shown to have the power to throw 'water balls' having tremendous concussive impact; he could also swim faster than Clark Kent. It is also revealed that Arthur wears an orange and green costume because he attends the University of Miami, whose Miami Hurricanes team colors are green, orange, and white. Arthur was played by former American Idol contestant Alan Ritchson. In an allusion to the HBO program, when Arthur is asked which environmental group he is working for, he responds "I don't travel with an entourage." "Aqua" was Smallville's highest-rated episode that season.^[8]

Ritchson reprised his role in the 2007 episode "Justice", as a member of Green Arrow's unnamed superhero team. Along with Victor "Cyborg" Stone and Bart "Impulse" Allen, they fought to stop Lex Luthor from creating an army of superhumans which he has kidnapped. During this second appearance, he is now using the codename of "Aquaman", and wears a costume similar to his traditional one.

In episode one of season eight, Arthur, Black Canary, and Oliver are all searching for Clark who had disappeared after the finale of the previous season. They succeed in finding Clark though Arthur and Canary are eventually captured by Tess Mercer. In the end of the episode, Arthur severs ties to the other members of the team due to their identity being compromised. He returns in the season ten episode "Patriot" with his new wife Mera to help Clark save Oliver from Slade Wilson.

Mercy Reef

The CW Television Network had announced a live action Aquaman television series called Mercy Reef (or Aquaman), but on May 18, 2006, it was confirmed that CW did not pick up the show for the 2006/2007 schedule. Reports (beginning after the upfronts)^{[clarification needed]} said The CW was still considering Aquaman for midseason due to interest piqued by the leaked promotional trailer. The pilot episode is available at Apple's iTunes Music Store and the Xbox Live Video Marketplace and can be viewed for free at AOL Video's In2TV. It was also broadcast on Canada's YTV on June 9, 2007. It starred Justin Hartley as Arthur "A.C." Curry/Aquaman, with supporting roles by Ving Rhames and Lou Diamond Phillips. There have been no talks of picking up the series since June 2006.

Entourage

A fictional Aquaman movie played a central role in the second season and part of the third season of the HBO show Entourage. The show has movie star Vincent Chase playing Aquaman/Arthur Curry in a big-budget film production of the comic book, directed by James Cameron. In the episode "One Day in the Valley", Aquaman premieres to much fanfare and opens with a three-day weekend record of just over $116 million (barely beating Spider-Man's $114.8 million). HBO even took out a very realistic looking two-page ad in Variety magazine after the episode, promoting the show by saying Aquaman earned $116 million in its first three days. CNBC jokingly reported that the three day weekend box office gross of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 had beaten the previous record of Aquaman.^[9] Joe Kernen later stated he was a watcher of Entourage and was completely aware that it was fake.^[10] Mandy Moore and James Woods were also cast in the film, as the love interest and villain respectively. Later episodes established that within the fictional world of Entourage, the Aquaman movie went on to become the highest grossing film of all time. A sequel was made without Vincent Chase. The fictional sequel starred Jake Gyllenhaal, was directed by Michael Bay and written by Kevin Smith. Subsequent films that surpassed Aquaman's fictional opening weekend total, such as The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man 3, have not been mentioned on the show, although a reference to Aquaman 2 indicated it did well at the box office.^{[episode needed]}

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson features a running skit entitled "Dear Aquaman", featuring Ferguson as Aquaman, wearing a costume and a blonde wig, accompanied by a green screen underwater backdrop and some prop fish floating on strings. In each of the installments (which are generally one or two minutes long) one of the fake fish brings Aquaman a message, and he answers it as an advice columnist.

Live-action films

Justice League film

In 2007, Santiago Cabrera was cast as Aquaman in a Justice League film called Justice League: Mortal.^[11] However, the movie was shelved later in the year.^[12]

Aquaman film

In 2004, FilmJerk.com reported that Sunrise Entertainment's Alan and Peter Riche planned to bring Aquaman to the big screen for Warner Bros. with Ben Grant, a first time writer, writing the screenplay.^[13] However, the film fell through. In July 2009, it was reported that Aquaman is in development at Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way. Warner chairman and CEO Barry Meyer says that the Aquaman film is in development.^[14]

Direct to DVD

Justice League The New Frontier

Alan Ritchson reprised his role as Arthur Curry/Aquaman for a cameo appearance in the animated film: Justice League: The New Frontier, based on the graphic novel DC: The New Frontier. In this film, he is referred to as "Arthur of Atlantis". He and some Atlantean doctors were seen treating Superman's injuries.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths

Aquaman appears in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths voiced by Josh Keaton. He assists Batman in fighting off Superwoman on board the Justice League satellite.^[15]

Video games

Aquaman as seen in the Justice League Heroes game.

Aquaman also appeared in the Justice League Task Force Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Mega Drive video game as well as in Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis for Xbox and GameCube.

Aquaman appeared as an unlockable character in the Justice League Heroes game for Xbox and PlayStation 2. He can be unlocked by paying 27 orange shields when collected. His powers are chiefly water-based, creating hard water weapons such as a sword, whirlpool tornadoes and water-blasts.

The prequel comic book for the video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe shows that Arthur Joseph was one of the many characters killed by the violent merger of the two earths prior to the beginning of the game.

Aquaman appears as a supporting character in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame, voiced by John DiMaggio.

Aquaman appears in the DC Universe Online video game voiced by Jens Anderson. Circe ends up mind-controlling Aquaman into attacking the surface world causing the players to assist Martian Manhunter into fighting both of them. When under the control of Circe, Aquaman is served by Brine Hatchlings, Brine Hulks, Cancer Makos, Cancer Threshers, Kitefins, Pisces Makos, Sandtigers, Scorpio Kitefins, Scorpio Makos, Threshers, Tidepool Kitefins, Tigersharks, Whitetips, and a Trident of Poseidon.

References

1. ^ "Dr. Pelagian's War". Super Friends. ABC. October 6, 1973. No. 5, season 1.
2. ^ Melrose, Kevin. "Geoff Johns to write new Aquaman series", Comic Book Resources, March 27, 2011
3. ^ "Wild Hare Studios Cell Animation". Hipinc.com. http://www.hipinc.com/examples/WildHare/samples.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-28. 
4. ^ "Matthew Jenkins Studio". Matthewjenkinsstudio.com. http://matthewjenkinsstudio.com/aquaman.html. Retrieved 2009-11-28. 
5. ^ "CN Panel Presentation @ Anime Weekend Atlanta(AS info inside)". IGN.com. http://boards.ign.com/adult_swim/b6966/46163248/p1/. Retrieved 2009-11-28. 
6. ^ "Comics Continuum". Comics Continuum. 2008-07-17. http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0807/17/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-13. 
7. ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (2010-07-23). "Comic-Con 2010: Young Justice Goes Under Cover". UGO Networks. http://www.ugo.com/tv/comic-con-2010-young-justice. Retrieved 2010-07-23. 
8. ^ Horn, John (July 28, 2006). "A green light for 'Aqua'?". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-aquaman28jul28,1,339510.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews. 
9. ^ Someone Didn’t Get The Joke, MediaBistro.com, 2006-07-12, http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/someone-didnt-get-the-joke_b10482, retrieved 2010-11-01 
10. ^ Learmonth, Michael; Zeitchik, Steven (2006-07-11). "Inside Move: CNBC all wet on 'Aquaman'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117946643.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2568. Retrieved 2010-09-28. 
11. ^ Jay Baruchel Talks About The Dead 'Justice League: Mortal' Film, ComicBookMovie.com, 2008-08-04, http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Kaboom/news/?a=21061, retrieved 2010-11-01 
12. ^ Williams, Jamie (2008-04-18), Justice League IS Mortal… As In: Dead, ScreenRant.com, http://screenrant.com/justice-league-is-mortal-as-in-dead-filmnerdjamie-1529/, retrieved 2010-11-01 
13. ^ Havens, Edward (2004-08-26), "Aquaman" movie back on track, FilmJerk.com, http://www3.filmjerk.com/news/article.php?id_new=399, retrieved 2010-11-01 
14. ^ Sampson, Mike (2009-07-20). "Leo on Aquaman?". Joblo.com. http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=27534. Retrieved 2010-09-13. 
15. ^ joshkeaton. "Josh Keaton (joshkeaton) on Twitter". Twitter.com. http://www.twitter.com/joshkeaton. Retrieved 2010-09-13.