WMG / Aquaman (2018)

Pre-Release Theories

Ludi Lin is playing Aqualad

But I'm not saying he isn't Murk. I propose that his role is a Composite Character of Garth and Murk, who is named Garth Murk, giving Aqualad a surname. He will be an Atlantean soldier like Murk, but will ultimately become Aqualad.

• Jossed. He played Murk.

Orm is Atlanna's son, not Tom Curry's

Patrick Wilson is Caucasian while Tom is played by Temuera Morrison, who is mostly of Maori descent. In order to be Arthur's half-brother, he would have to be Atlanna's child.

• Orm is a pure blooded Atlantean. He has to be Atlanna's son, just like the comics.
• Orm is indeed Atlanna's son, and King Orvax is his father.

Atlanna and Thomas Curry are already dead in the present

Seeing that Kidman is only twelve years older than Jason Momoa, and they've already cast a Time-Shifted Actor for Arthur, they'll most likely appear through flashbacks.

• Jossed. They both survive.

Alternatively, Atlanteans age at a slower pace than regular humans

A possible explanation being that Atlanna is notably older than Kidman's real age.

Aquaman will receive a more comic-accurate costume

Much like Mera's new costume, it will stay true to the bright green and orange colors of the comics, though it will have a more chainmail-like texture instead of spandex, similar to Henry Cavill's Superman suit.

• Alternatively, there will be a Mythology Gag where a short-haired Arthur wears clothes with the same color scheme as his classic costume.
  • Jossed.
• Confirmed by the extended trailer - it even has a chainmail-like texture.

The film will take place before, during, and after Justice League

In the same vein as 300: Rise of an Empire, the first act will explore Arthur's time before Bruce Wayne came to recruit him, the second act will be his discovery of his royal blood as he is working with the League, and the third act will be him taking back his title as king from Ocean Master some time after defeating Steppenwolf.

• Jossed only for "during". It takes place before (Aquaman's Origin Story) and after (Mera mentions Steppenwolf's defeat).

Murk will be to Orm what Garth or Kaldur are to Arthur

He'll sort of be Orm's evil version of Aqualad, with some conflicted feelings about the job.

• Jossed for the conflicted feelings. He's fully obedient to Orm.

Michael Beach's character is Black Manta's father

• Confirmed.

Adrian Grenier will have a role

This would be done as a reference to his role in Entourage, where his character was in a fictional film adaptation of Aquaman.

• Jossed.

Aquaman's parents' hair color will be switched.

Since Aquaman's actor isn't blond, it's logical for his mother to be dark-haired as well (assuming Kidman will dye her hair). Likely all Atlanteans will be dark-haired, due to be descended from Greek-ish people. If Tom Curry gets killed like in the New 52 comics, it's likely by Atlanteans searching for Orin who thought Tom was evil because of his blond hair (like in Post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint).

• Jossed. Temuera Morrison is dark-haired and has already lost most of it due to age. They'd have to stick a blond wig on him, which might look strange in live action and cause Narm.
• It should also be pointed out that Mera has bright red hair and that nothing has as of yet suggested that Kidman will dye her hair.
• "The Atlanteans killed my father, so I will be their king"....?
  • Well most depictions have them under the rule of Orm's father/Atlanna's husband or a corrupt government before Arthur took the throne.
    • That's not that relevant. I'm pointing out that it'd be strange for Arthur to even try to become king if they killed his father over his hair.
• It should also be noted that Dolph Lundgren was fairly blond during his youth as well, and he plays a rival king. So it's incredibly unlikely that blond people are executed on the spot in Atlantis and given that there are Atlanteans who obviously aren't meant to look Greek, including the Chinese-Canadian Ludi Lin, this theory is really at odds with what we've seen.

Poseidon will appear

He's the founder of Atlantis and the trident originated from him, so it would make sense for him to appear in some capacity, even if it's merely a flashback. This could be the secret role of Graham McTavish. Seriously, we know he can rock a pretty great beard.

• Jossed. He's only mentioned.

There will be a self-deprecating flashback or Imagine Spot where Arthur looks exactly like his more well-known appearance

Option A) A flashback where Arthur has short blonde hair but decides to grow it out and mostly dye it brown.

• Jossed.

Option B) He has this haircut when he first encountered Atlantis and finds himself in what he sees as an embarrassing royal garb that is his classic orange and green skintight wetsuit, leading to him preferring the armor he wears in Justice League.

• Jossed.

Starro will appear

Maybe not in person, but it would make sense that it tried to conquer Earth at some point of the past. Maybe it's even The Man Behind the Man to Black Manta or Ocean Master, with them using pieces of it to recruit followers and realizing to late that it's playing with them. Another proof? The quote on the main page may not be one, but the very nature of Starro makes very likely that the quote is about it or some other creature.

• Jossed

Black Manta will be the conventional Big Bad, while Ocean Master will be a political/moral threat to Aquaman

Black Manta will be the film's main adversary, a human mercenary trying to loot Atlantean technology and/or kill Aquaman in revenge for the death of his father. Orm will start the film as Aquaman's ally and friend (perhaps "Ocean Master" could even be a title or rank in the Atlantean military) but will be the leader of a militant faction of Atlantean society that views Manta's attack as a declaration of war by the surface-dwellers, and thus support invading the surface in retaliation. Aquaman will have to balance his own desire for peace with the need to play politics and ensure the support of Orm's faction, but eventually his hesitance to go to war will drive a permanent wedge between him and Orm, leading the latter to start believing that his human heritage and upbringing has made him unworthy of the throne. The Stinger of the film will be Orm adopting his Ocean Master costume and rallying a group of followers to start a plot to overthrow Aquaman.

• Jossed. Orm/Ocean Master is the Big Bad. Black Manta has much less prominence.

Black Manta will be contacted by Lex Luthor or an agent of his

And Black Manta will be invited to join the Legion of Doom. Bonus points if it happens in The Stinger.

• Jossed.

It isn’t a coincidence that Djimon Hounsou plays the Fisherman King in this movie and will later appear as the wizard in SHAZAM! (2019).

Hounsou is actually playing another character acting as The Chessmaster across the DC movies, who will go on to be plot-relevant in the future Justice League movie.

Either Wonder Woman or the Amazons will make a cameo.

The DCEU has made it clear that the Amazons and Atlanteans share a history together and they both have the same Hellenistic theme so it wouldn't feel jarring to see either of them in the film.

• Jossed by the director himself as far as cameos are concerned.
• Alternatively Arthur may say a throwaway line like "You remind me of a particular Amazon."
• Actually mostly Jossed. Although Wonder Woman doesn't appear nor is she mentioned by Arthur, a newspaper clipping does mention that she denied rumors that she's dating Arthur.

Post-Release Theories

Black Manta's next appearance will feature him working with Lex Luthor.

• It'll be revealed that Jesse Kane used to work for Luthor.

The Lost Nation will feature in the sequel

• The empire of Atlantis is made up of 7 nations, but only Atlantis proper, Xebel, the Kingdom of the Deserters, the Fishermen, the Trench and the Brine feature in the story, as the Lost Nation, is said to be, well... lost. They will turn out out to be Chekhov M.I.A., and feature in a sequel as either antagonists or as a MacGuffin.
  • Could well happen, considering that the revealed sequel's title is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Atlantean technology is derived from Apokoliptian tech.

• The Atlanteans seen when Steppenwolf first tried to invade Earth weren't that technologically different from any other human during that battle. Vulko explained that Atlantis was the most technologically advanced civilization on Earth at the time of it's sinking. It's possible that the Atlanteans had studied and derived their technology from the apokoliptian tech of the mother box. The trident of Atlan granting the user with the ability to control and communicate with sea life is similar to Steppenwolf's ability to control his army of parademons with his axe.

The Kingdom of the Deserters became humans.

• This would make sense as they settled in the place where humanity originated, and it also fits the theme of the land and sea being one.
  • Humans were stated to have already existed when Atlantis sunk. The Atlanteans were in fact just an exceptionally advanced group of them.
    • Assuming, as seems likely from the film, that the Deserters were another close branch to Atlantis 'proper' (like Xebel), the high-born Deserters may have been able to breathe air, which means some might have left the city before the end and intermingled with surface humans in the area (it may even be the source of some Atlantis tales in-universe) — so the Deserters might have left a small genetic mark on surface humanity. This furthers the idea that "surface dwellers" and Atlanteans are not so different from each other.

Atlanna and Thomas will be targeted

• Black Manta will somehow learn of their existence and location, and will either kill them both in cold blood to make Arthur feel the same pain or kidnap them so he can force Arthur to fight him.
  • This would result in Arthur and Orm teaming up, similar to Thor and Loki in The Dark World, to avenge or rescue them.
    • If Arthur and Orm does save them, we'll see a tense relationship between Orm and Thomas, due to the former blaming the latter for Atlanna's exile.
  • Alternatively, if Atlanna dies in the sequel, she'll be killed by Orm's supporters, thinking she's holding back their "true king". When he finds out, Orm will kill them.

King Atlan was half human just like Arthur

• It's possible that the ability to speak to sea creatures is due to having a half human heritage. Since King Atlan had this power as well, maybe he was also part human. It would add an extra layer of irony to the Fantastic Racism prevalent among modern Atlanteans if it turned out that the legendary king they revered was actually part human.

Villains that might appear in Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom

Since the Ocean King and Black Manta are both set to be returning in Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom, there are likely some other possibilities of Aquaman’s enemies to appear in the sequel film.

• Siren
• The Dead King
• The Thirst
• Black Thirst
• Thanatos
• Toxin
• The Scavenger
• The Creature King
• Rhombus
• Eel

A future villain will be motivated by Orm's attack on the surface world.

• They will be from a coastal city that was flooded by the tidal waves, perhaps losing friends or loved ones in the attack. When they find out the Atlanteans were directly responsible, they will seek revenge against them all, even those who were actually fighting to stop the war. Think Zemo in Captain America: Civil War.

The final version of the prototype Atlantean armor will be part of the next Justice League film.

• Given how much trouble the prototype gave Aquaman, the final version is probably just powerful enough to serve as an obstacle to a DCEU Superman-level threat.
  • And the solider who wears it will become the DCEU Aqualad.

The whole conflict and its resolution was a Batman Gambit by Vulko and possibly Mera

Vulko knew or at least suspected that Arthur was the Chosen One destined to retrieve Atlan's trident and unite four remaining kingdoms. However, Arthur had neither the wish nor the will to take his place as the king of Atlantis and conquer the three other kingdoms. Vulko therefore let Orm do the dirty work of engineering an alliance with the kingdom of Xebel and bring the Fishmen and Brine kingdoms under his heel, thus giving Arthur the dual role of savior and rightful king when he defeated Orm. As a bonus point, Mera genuinely fell in love with Arthur who will be more likely to take her and Vulko's advice on how to rule Atlantis and the other three kingdoms now under his dominion. To recap, the scattered kingdoms of Atlantis are now under the rule of an inexperienced king who will depend on Vulko and Mera for advice on how to rule, Just as Planned.

In short, Vulko did a similar thing here that he did in the comics.

Black Manta and Dr. Shin will become an Odd Couple

• They just seem to contrast each other well, if we go by the mid-credits scene. They would probably split off from each other, but it could make for some fun comic relief early on in a sequel.

Jackson Hyde/Kaldur'ahm will be an important part of the sequel

• Black Manta having a half-Atlantean son who becomes an adversary has become an important part of his modern characterization, and the dynamic of Black Manta having a child with a woman of the race he now hates, whose origins are similar to those of the man he hates, would be a very meaningful plot thread.

The pirates commissioned their submarine from LexCorp.

Even before Kane was working with Atlanteans, the pirates' tech is extremely advanced; particularly their sub, which looks like something out of a futuristic Jules Verne adaptation. We know Luthor is not at all above dealing with criminal organizations, and that he is an expert in advanced technology, to the extent that he's even able to reverse-engineer an alien ship. An under the table commissions would be a good way for LexCorp to do a trial run on weapons development projects. As long as the criminals' equipment doesn't have a LexCorp brand, it's unlikely to be traced back, and conveniently for LexCorp, it creates a necessity for governments to draw up contracts with weapons manufacturers (like LexCorp) in order to keep up with the criminals' firepower.

Garth will be Mera's younger cousin.

Since the ability to breathe on land is a trait found only in Atlantean nobles in this continuity, Garth needs to be of the right lineage to join Arthur's fight as Aqualad. As Mera's relative, he is more likely to have learned the similar hydrokinetic sorcery from her tutelage.

Mera will NOT be cutout in the sequel.

We can't have an Aquaman movie without Mera. The director said he won't replace her, no matter how much fans want her gone.

The reasoning behind Mera's accent shifts.

Because the DCEU is starting to shift towards treating Zack Snyder's Justice League as the canonical version of the story, it means we have to justify why in that film she has a Received Pronunciation English accent, and why in this one it's General American. In the early scenes of Justice League, when she talks with her soldiers and then with Arthur, she is acting in the capacity of a royal in defence against Steppenwolf, and thus is prim and proper. But she saw that Arthur has a more naturalised, surface dweller accent, which came from his upbringing in New England. So, when she approached him to respond to Orm's menace, she adopted a similar accent so as to try to bond with him better. It's likely when she is hanging out with her friends and letting her hair down, she also talks like that. Throughout the rest of the movie, she's regularly in peril and having to fight, which helps support the casual accent. It's possible that she never spoke with her RP posh accent with Orm (indeed she doesn't in their scene together in the movie) because she never saw him as the legitimate heir to the throne, thus unworthy of it. Meanwhile, far off into the future, when forced to work with the remnants of the Justice League, she's only in it to get revenge for her people and the man she loved. So, she's representing both her species and the Atlantean Royalty amongst what appears to be entirely human team members. So that accent returns, with no casual relaxation amongst common surface dwellers. Truth in Television in that some people, especially those with upbringings in multiple countries, shift their accents depending on which countries or cultures they're conversing with.

---