In what might be the most shocking development to come down the pipeline from Warner Brothers’ animation department, DC publisher/writer Geoff Johns responded to a tweet, seemingly confirming that the King of the Seas, Aquaman is going to headline a DC direct-to-DVD/BluRay movie!

 

 

 

Aquaman from ‘Young Justice’

This is shocking for several reasons.  For one thing, years ago, after direct-to-DVD movies starring Wonder Woman and Green Lantern underperformed, Warner Brothers demanded that any future movies had to star Batman, Superman or the Justice League.  Has this decision been reversed?

Second, Aquaman?  Granted his current comic book series is a solid hit, but the character has had to endure decades of being the butt of jokes due to his under-use on the Super Friends cartoon, causing a lot of fans to believe the character has very little practical use.  Just last year, the Robot Chicken DC Special was built entirely around making fun of the Sea King.

But in recent years, not only has the comic book version of the hero gained greater respect, but his appearances on ‘Batman: The Brave & The Bold’ and ‘Young Justice’ have positively made him a fan favorite.  He was also heavily featured in the most recent DC movie, ‘The Flashpoint Paradox,’ although this was a darker, parallel universe version of the characters.

Even so, of their classic Justice League characters, Aquaman is the one that DC promotes the least, with Green Lantern and The Flash appearing on much more merchandise.  (And of course, with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman appearing on the most.)  At Target this weekend, I found Justice League fruit snacks, which depicted Aquaman on the box, but when I looked closer, there was no actual Aquaman fruit piece inside.  There were candies shaped like the five others, but the sixth piece, rather than being Aquaman, was a JL logo.  On the other hand, I picked up a Black Manta Imaginext figure and submarine, making his the first villain in the entire lineup that isn’t one of Batman’s.  I also spotted a kids book featuring Aquaman, so maybe Warner Brothers is slowly pushing the hero into the public eye.

What do you think?  Are you excited to see an Aquaman animated movie?  Or do you think another character deserves the spotlight more?  Which DC heroes would you like to see in their own animated features?  Comment below!