Has this movie redeemed Aquaman’s reputation?

[Claude_Speed]

Aquaman won’t work without Momoa. He is this generation’s aquaman. Recasting maybe 15 years from now fine. But there is a definite X-factor or some genius combination of marketing, playing to Momoa’s strengths and how he was depicted that has helped draw some of the audience in. Actors often need the right platform and things to synergize via marketing, film content, looks and highlighting the USPs of their personalities to become a draw for some audiences

That's a grounless claim.

I mean sure, Momoa did work for the movie. The script was even adapted to fit his wild personality. But going as far as saying he was the reason the movie was so successful and even that he can't be replaced..come on.

People love RDJ as Iron Man and his first two movies didn't make over 700M.

 

[Claude_Speed]

Uh... huh...

The long hair, the beard, the costuming and styling... NOTHING like those pics of AM from closing in on 20 years ago, right?

I bet you've never even once so much as read one single issue of any run of Aquaman.

The pose of authenticity. Scourge of the fanboy world.

I'm talking about his physical appearance. The suit is obviously spot on.

Beard? Long hair? Those are pretty generic traits. Many men have those and they don't look like Aquaman, as neither does Momoa. His physical appearance was completely changed. I mean Momoa is polynesian dude. He doesn't even look ethnically the same as the CB character. It's like if a mestizo played Superman, lol.

 

[Claude_Speed]

It's very easy to say now that Momoa's casting made no difference and someone like Charlie Hunnam could've been in the role and it still would've have made over $1billion. I really don't think you can underestimate Momoa's casting i.e. Polynesian, multi-ethnic, diverse...and the effect that would have had on international audiences, in places like China, where it owes so much of its success. You may not think so but the proof is in the pudding and the studios would likely see it as a major factor in its success in terms of international marketing.

Chinese people love visuals and heavy CGI films. Many CBM's are making a lot in China. It's not because of Momoa who isn't even chinese, lol.

I think it's easier to say Aquaman wouldn't work without Momoa now that the film is successful. That doesn't mean it's true. The only thing we know for sure is that Aquaman can be a success with Momoa.

 

[Silvermoth]

RDJ financial success as Iron Man was build up and had a big franchise to back it up. First 2 Iron Man films both made less than 700M. The 3rd made over 1B because it was ridding the massive success of The Avengers, in which RDJ had a major role.

So RDJ wasn't this billion dollar king when he first started, even when his portrayal has been widely embraced. To suggest Momoa is the reason the first Aquaman movie ever has made over 1B is groundless and silly.

Aquaman is a very fun movie and it has very impressive visuals that people never saw before. That's a perfect recipe for success.

So rdj is celebrated for being a success but momoa starred in a movie about a character that the general public thought was silly and it became a billion dollar hit but he had nothing to do with it? Now that’s groundless and silly

 

[Marz69]

For me Momoa made the character cool and all. I loved the choice from the start. He gets credit for making the character what it is. But the movie doesn't make a billion if it's a serious tale. Momoa was in JL and JL didn't make a billion.

RDJ makes a great Iron Man and the movie was fun and utilized RDJ's charisma. Much like how Wan utilized Momoa's charisma. Make IM and AQM into some serious introspective pieces and have the actors play against their "fun/cool" energies and both movies don't do well

 

[Willi Berg]

Chinese people love visuals and heavy CGI films. Many CBM's are making a lot in China. It's not because of Momoa who isn't even chinese, lol.

I think it's easier to say Aquaman wouldn't work without Momoa now that the film is successful. That doesn't mean it's true. The only thing we know for sure is that Aquaman can be a success with Momoa.

I'm talking about diverse casting in the lead. Not to mention throughout the cast.

I didn't say that the Aquaman movie wouldn't work without Momoa, but you're saying the opposite- that it could've worked as well as it did with anyone else, as if Momoa is dispensable.

 

[Willi Berg]

I'm talking about his physical appearance. The suit is obviously spot on.

Beard? Long hair? Those are pretty generic traits. Many men have those and they don't look like Aquaman, as neither does Momoa. His physical appearance was completely changed. I mean Momoa is polynesian dude. He doesn't even look ethnically the same as the CB character. It's like if a mestizo played Superman, lol.

I know you're close-minded about all of this, and would've preferred a more traditional and blonde Aquaman. I think you're going to get disappointed because it is going to happen and is happening more frequently. Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash wasn't blonde either. You're going to see Black Canary in the Birds of Prey movie played by Jurnee Smollet-Bell. And Superman has already been played by a mixed race actor (Dean Cain). I think it's just going to happen more and more.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I'm talking about his physical appearance. The suit is obviously spot on.

Beard? Long hair? Those are pretty generic traits. Many men have those and they don't look like Aquaman, as neither does Momoa. His physical appearance was completely changed. I mean Momoa is polynesian dude. He doesn't even look ethnically the same as the CB character. It's like if a mestizo played Superman, lol.

I have some REALLY bad news for you about Dean Cain then...


I suppose obtuse fanboy is as obtuse fanboy does.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

So rdj is celebrated for being a success but momoa starred in a movie about a character that the general public thought was silly and it became a billion dollar hit but he had nothing to do with it? Now that’s groundless and silly

Silver... This is not a position he got into via either understandable emotion or rationality. Trying to use your knowledge as a genre fan on someone that is obviously just another garden variety know nothing trying to stir the pot for his own ****s and giggles isn't worth your time.

 

[kguillou]

I think Mamoa's fun, charismatic energy is a heavy contributing factor though. There are tons of CGI heavy movies that don't do that well that are missing that X factor with their lead. Look at Pacific Rim for example (the first one, not that second abomination). Movie is GORGEOUS and incredibly well filmed in its spectacle but it had a block of wood as its lead. I truly believe that if that movie had had a much stronger lead, someone like a Mamoa or a Michael B Jordan or a Chris Pine, someone who would've had fun with the role and added that extra energy to it, the movie would've easily done much better than it had and the franchise might not have ended.

 

[Silvermoth]

Silver... This is not a position he got into via either understandable emotion or rationality. Trying to use your knowledge as a genre fan on someone that is obviously just another garden variety know nothing trying to stir the pot for his own ****s and giggles isn't worth your time.

Yeah alright, fair.

 

[Claude_Speed]

So rdj is celebrated for being a success but momoa starred in a movie about a character that the general public thought was silly and it became a billion dollar hit but he had nothing to do with it? Now that’s groundless and silly

So RDJ's first 2 Iron Man movies didn't make over $700M but Momoa's first Aquaman movie makes 1B. Surely that must mean people loved Momoa a lot more than they loved RDJ...lol

Come on people. One thing is that Momoa was a good lead character and another very different thing is that he was a financial factor, which is completely groundless.

Newsflash: Very fun movies with spectacular visual effects often make a lot of money, regardless of the lead actor. You guys are just believing what you want to believe.

 

[Claude_Speed]

For me Momoa made the character cool and all. I loved the choice from the start. He gets credit for making the character what it is. But the movie doesn't make a billion if it's a serious tale. Momoa was in JL and JL didn't make a billion.

RDJ makes a great Iron Man and the movie was fun and utilized RDJ's charisma. Much like how Wan utilized Momoa's charisma. Make IM and AQM into some serious introspective pieces and have the actors play against their "fun/cool" energies and both movies don't do well

Exactly.

A movie's financial success doesn't really depend on the lead actor(s), but the overall movie. You can have a great actor/character, but if the movie isn't good/entertaining then it will fail. When it comes to blockbusters the combination of factors like quality, visuals, action, fun factor completely outweight the main character/actor.

That's why I think it's very silly when people here say that Momoa was the reason AM made 1B and that it wouldn't have been as successful with a different actor. The movie had all the ingredients to be a successful blockbuster.

 

[Claude_Speed]

I'm talking about diverse casting in the lead. Not to mention throughout the cast.

I didn't say that the Aquaman movie wouldn't work without Momoa, but you're saying the opposite- that it could've worked as well as it did with anyone else, as if Momoa is dispensable.

Why would the chinese care about diversity that doesn't even involve one of their own?

Aquaman was successful in China because the chinese love visually impressive blockbusters. That's why movies like Transformers made so much money there.

I think Aquaman could have been just as successful with any other actor who could fit the role, yes. Big blockbusters are more dependant on action/visuals/fun factor than the lead actor/character.

 

[Claude_Speed]

I have some REALLY bad news for you about Dean Cain then...


I suppose obtuse fanboy is as obtuse fanboy does.

Oh don't worry, I know about Dean Cain.

He was OK for a TV show, but he wasn't movie material and physically nowhere near the level Reeves/Cavill.

Funny thing is, Cain looked more like Superman than Momoa looks like Aquaman.

 

[Claude_Speed]

I think Mamoa's fun, charismatic energy is a heavy contributing factor though. There are tons of CGI heavy movies that don't do that well that are missing that X factor with their lead. Look at Pacific Rim for example (the first one, not that second abomination). Movie is GORGEOUS and incredibly well filmed in its spectacle but it had a block of wood as its lead. I truly believe that if that movie had had a much stronger lead, someone like a Mamoa or a Michael B Jordan or a Chris Pine, someone who would've had fun with the role and added that extra energy to it, the movie would've easily done much better than it had and the franchise might not have ended.

There are also plenty of successful blockbusters that didn't rely on their lead character. Movies like Avatar, Transformers, Jurassic World, etc. were not successful because of their leads.

As for Pacific Rim, it didn't underperform because of Hunnam. In fact, the cast was one of the strongest points of the movie. The problem was the poor marketing.

I think we can all agree that people love Jackman as Wolverine. But even his movies were financial disappointments when they didn't deliver. On the other hand when his movies were good they were a lot more successful. And we're talking about a guy who has been playing Wolverine for a lifetime, unlike Momoa.

I think in general, blockbusters' financial success relies more on fun/action/visuals than lead characters.

 

[Axl Van Sixx]

It might sound silly, but the blonde highlights they gave Momoa were more than enough for me to accept him as "close enough" to the appearance of the comic book Aquaman.

Otherwise, I agree with a lot of people have been saying here that a Polynesian surfer type works better for an ocean-based superhero than "blonde Superman underwater". There was something just a little bland about the comic book Arthur, and I do think they needed someone with a personality and presence like Momoa's to make the character a little more interesting.

Funny thing is, now I hope they alter the appearance of the comic book Aquaman to resemble Jason Momoa! At this point, Momoa IS Aquaman to me. Granted, I never read much of the comics. But when I look at them after seeing the movie and see this Aryan-looking blonde guy, he just doesn't seem like Aquaman. I think it made a lot of sense for them to cast an actor of mixed-race background to play a character like Arthur Curry, since Arthur's mixed-race background is a big part of the character.

 

[Willi Berg]

Oh don't worry, I know about Dean Cain.

He was OK for a TV show, but he wasn't movie material and physically nowhere near the level Reeves/Cavill.

Funny thing is, Cain looked more like Superman than Momoa looks like Aquaman.

You've made the same simple point for how many pages now? You wanted a blonde white Aquaman. We get it. It's tired. It was basic to begin with. You're just a troll at this point.

 

[Willi Berg]

It might sound silly, but the blonde highlights they gave Momoa were more than enough for me to accept him as "close enough" to the appearance of the comic book Aquaman.

Otherwise, I agree with a lot of people have been saying here that a Polynesian surfer type works better for an ocean-based superhero than "blonde Superman underwater". There was something just a little bland about the comic book Arthur, and I do think they needed someone with a personality and presence like Momoa's to make the character a little more interesting.

Funny thing is, now I hope they alter the appearance of the comic book Aquaman to resemble Jason Momoa! At this point, Momoa IS Aquaman to me. Granted, I never read much of the comics. But when I look at them after seeing the movie and see this Aryan-looking blonde guy, he just doesn't seem like Aquaman. I think it made a lot of sense for them to cast an actor of mixed-race background to play a character like Arthur Curry, since Arthur's mixed-race background is a big part of the character.

Momoa's physicality was very effective throughout the whole movie. It was very visceral and visual throughout the fight scenes. People reacted greatly to that. Complainers say that anybody can do that (as long as they work out) but there is a reason why movies and TV keep casting Momoa in these very physical type of roles. Sometimes it may not work overall in movies like 'Conan' (which was more the movie) but then it works in stuff like 'Game of Thrones' and now 'Aquaman."

 

[Claude_Speed]

You've made the same simple point for how many pages now? You wanted a blonde white Aquaman. We get it. It's tired. It was basic to begin with. You're just a troll at this point.

You've made your point too, yet here you are still posting.

And here comes the troll card, lol. Some people just can't stand different opinions.

 

[Claude_Speed]

Momoa's physicality was very effective throughout the whole movie. It was very visceral and visual throughout the fight scenes. People reacted greatly to that. Complainers say that anybody can do that (as long as they work out) but there is a reason why movies and TV keep casting Momoa in these very physical type of roles. Sometimes it may not work overall in movies like 'Conan' (which was more the movie) but then it works in stuff like 'Game of Thrones' and now 'Aquaman."

Physicality is important for a superhero role, but having a guy as big as Momoa is simply not necessary. Cavill plays a stronger, more powerful character and he isn't as big as Momoa. WW is also very powerful and Gadot doesn't look like a female bodybuilder.

Fact is, Aquaman could have been played by an actor who had, lets say, a Chris Evans type of physique and it would have worked just fine. Snyder cast Momoa because for him the way to "fix" Aquaman was to make him big, imposing, cool and badass. None of which were necessary imo, as Aquaman was mocked mainly because of his powers, not his physique.

 

[Claude_Speed]

It might sound silly, but the blonde highlights they gave Momoa were more than enough for me to accept him as "close enough" to the appearance of the comic book Aquaman.

Otherwise, I agree with a lot of people have been saying here that a Polynesian surfer type works better for an ocean-based superhero than "blonde Superman underwater". There was something just a little bland about the comic book Arthur, and I do think they needed someone with a personality and presence like Momoa's to make the character a little more interesting.

Funny thing is, now I hope they alter the appearance of the comic book Aquaman to resemble Jason Momoa! At this point, Momoa IS Aquaman to me. Granted, I never read much of the comics. But when I look at them after seeing the movie and see this Aryan-looking blonde guy, he just doesn't seem like Aquaman. I think it made a lot of sense for them to cast an actor of mixed-race background to play a character like Arthur Curry, since Arthur's mixed-race background is a big part of the character.

I think the mixed race justification is silly as most athlanteans look like regular white people. If Aquaman's father was white then Momoa looking of mixed race would make no sense. In the movie, his father was polynesian to justify Momoa's appearance, however if he was white, then Aquaman being blonde would make sense, and it wouldn't mean he's not of mixed race, because again athlanteans look the same as white people.

As for a polynesian surfer working better for an ocean superhero, I disagree. I don't think it makes any more sense than having a white/blonde man since many white people have had historically a big connection with the sea. Vikings, british, irish, icelanders, etc.

To me that's just a poor justification, but I understand your opinion since you don't like the comic book version.

 

[Aldebaran]

I think the mixed race justification is silly as most athlanteans look like regular white people. If Aquaman's father was white then Momoa looking of mixed race would make no sense. In the movie, his father was polynesian to justify Momoa's appearance, however if he was white, then Aquaman being blonde would make sense, and it wouldn't mean he's not of mixed race, because again athlanteans look the same as white people.

As for a polynesian surfer working better for an ocean superhero, I disagree. I don't think it makes any more sense than having a white/blonde man since many white people have had historically a big connection with the sea. Vikings, british, irish, icelanders, etc.

To me that's just a poor justification, but I understand your opinion since you don't like the comic book version.

Atlanteans according to the legend are Greek, ancient Greeks were definitely not blondes. Greece has also a historical big connection with the sea, like all mediterranean countries, who aren't the northern europe blondes (Vikings, icelanders etc). Atlantis was purportedly the highest advancement of the Greek Civilization. Therefore, any anglo saxon heritage of Atlanteans has no basis.

Aquaman needed badly a need a new look, and, the comics are not the bible. Given the bad reputation Aquaman had, they had to think outside the box.
Momoa was what was needed, a fresh start, besides he has a great part in the movie's success. I doubt another actor could infuse the enthusiasm and energy he brought.
Although well deserved credit goes also to Wan, the VFX team, amber heard(don't underestimate the impact of the character of Mera, a surprise to many non comic readers), the soundtrack composer etc

 

[Claude_Speed]

Atlanteans according to the legend are Greek, ancient Greeks were definitely not blondes. Greece has also a historical big connection with the sea, like all mediterranean countries, who aren't the northern europe blondes (Vikings, icelanders etc). Atlantis was purportedly the highest advancement of the Greek Civilization. Therefore, any anglo saxon heritage of Atlanteans has no basis.

Aquaman needed badly a need a new look, and, the comics are not the bible. Given the bad reputation Aquaman had, they had to think outside the box.
Momoa was what was needed, a fresh start, besides he has a great part in the movie's success. I doubt another actor could infuse the enthusiasm and energy he brought.
Although well deserved credit goes also to Wan, the VFX team, amber heard(don't underestimate the impact of the character of Mera, a surprise to many non comic readers), the soundtrack composer etc

That's cool and all, except comic book movies aren't directly based on Greek Mythology, but the comic books (which yes, can be based on Greek Mythology, but they aren't the same), and if Aquaman is blonde in the comic books then that's the accurate way to portray him as that is the source material. Furthermore, even with your logic Momoa was a poor choice since he doesn't look Greek at all.

Many cultures have had a big connection with the sea. Point is, it's not something that only fits polynesian people. Aquaman being white/blonde wouldn't have taken anything away from the fact that he's an ocean based superhero.

Aquaman didn't need a new look. His "bad reputation" was blown out of proportion because people only remembered the silly Super Friends version, in which by the way, everyone was silly. There was actually nothing inherently wrong about the character. In fact the Aquaman from the comics was blonde and still was a badass:





Problem is most people ignore those versions and still remember Aquaman as the useless dude who talks to fish. If you look at Momoa's AM, he still talks to the fish and he still has the classic suit. So ironically, they pretty much kept everything that supposedly made Aquaman a joke. So the change of looks was unnecessary.

Like I said, Momoa worked mainly because he was playing himself, but that doesn't mean another actor couldn't have worked too.

 

[Tg11]

It continues to break all time records