BootLEGO Jason Momoa Aquaman

Courtesy F.O.A.M.er Eric Stettmeier--so angry but so adorable!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Aquaman Action Figure Variant

A couple of weeks ago the Shrine did a post on the Aquaman figure from the Dawn of Justice line, and now thanks to newest F.O.A.M. member Joel Kurowski here are some photos of the variant edition. As you can see, this time around Aquaman's armor is painted grey, as opposed to gold. His tats are removed, and his pants are two-toned, making it a spitting image of Peter David era-version of the character!

Not too long ago, a suggestion that there ever might be an "Aquaman Through The Ages" line of action figures would have been completely ridiculous. Now while it's still a long shot, given that there is an entire Aquaman movie just two years away...who knows? Papa needs a Jim Aparo-style Aquaman figure!

Thanks Joel, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Okay Aqua-Fans, I just got back from seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It's too late/too early for me to try and write something coherent and fully thought out just yet, but here are some quick takes:

• This movie, and by extension Warner Bros., just really doesn't like Superman

• There is a scene with Superman so ineptly put together I can't believe it appeared in a major motion picture

• In a film 2 1/2 hours long, we get not one, but two flashbacks to Batman's origin

• Gal Gadot/Wonder Woman is not given a lot to do, but she is woven into the film's fabric quite well, as are the other heroes

• This film makes me want to see a solo Wonder Woman, ASAP

• Batman does something so profoundly stupid not equaled in DC comic-dom since Challenge of the Super Friends

• If Zack Snyder had sped up all the slo-mo scenes to normal speed, the film would have been 2 hrs, 10 minutes

• It was completely thrilling to see my hero, Aquaman, on a movie screen

• No, really, it was amazing--as was seeing the credit "Aquaman: Jason Momoa"


I should add that I will be covering the movie in depth on an all-star edition of Aquaman and Firestorm: The Fire and Water Podcast, which will be available soon!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice This Thursday!

I will be seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this Thursday night, and my hope is to come home and jot down a few quick thoughts here on the blog that same night. Don't worry, no spoilers!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Aquaman Action Figure

The, er, flood of BvS-related Aquaman toys started while the Shrine was still on hiatus, so I'm still catching up a bit. This action figure was one of the first that appeared on store shelves. If I was Aquaman and had to walk around with all that heavy stuff on, I'd be pretty grim-looking too!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Cosbabys

More from the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice merchandising onslaught, a line of "cosbabys" featuring Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Batman, and Batman!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er JB Burton)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Halloween Costume

This Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Halloween costume is a little snug on me now, but I'll fit into by the time the movie comes out. #SquadGoals

Batman v Superman Mopeez Plush

Another piece of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice merchandising onslaught, here is a plush Mopeez figure of the King of the Seven Seas, from the people at Funko. So cute but so sour-faced!

(h/t: F.O.A.M.er Ilke Hincer)

DC Films: Dawn of Justice

Here's the Aquaman segment from tonight's DC Films: Dawn of Justice TV special that aired on the CW. We (sort of) get our first glimpse of Jason Momoa in action!

Batman v Superman Trailer

Warner Bros. debuted the second and full trailer for Batman v Superman at the 2015 SDCC, giving us a better concept of the story not to mention our first real shots of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in action. Still no Aquaman, but I guess they are saving the best for last!

It's clear now that all the destruction wreaked at the end of Man of Steel will be addressed in this film, head on. That element of the previous film definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and I think it's a gutsy move for the filmmakers to have purposely laid that groundwork and willingly absorbing a couple of years(!) of fanboy brickbats.

I still have a lot of misgivings about the overall "dark" approach WB is taking with the DC films. But as I have said before, if this Dawn of Justice ends with the nascent Justice League being formed, having taken us down this dark path but ending up in the light, then I think there's a chance this could end up being a very powerful film, achieving an emotional resonance that the Marvel films have (IMO) only been able to pull off sparingly. I haven't seen a lot from Zack Snyder that makes me think he can do it, but I am remaining cautiously optimistic. Plus, you know, live action Aquaman!

What did everyone else think?

Batman v Superman Teaser Trailer

I've been pretty skeptical of Batman v Superman to this point, for a number of reasons. This teaser trailer--which I presume was released a little ahead of schedule because it leaked--is the first chance any of us reg'lar folk have had to see just what is going in this movie, and how.

I can't say I was disappointed that Aquaman doesn't appear in it, because as far as we've heard, Jason Momoa's role in the film is little more than a cameo. I was disappointed to see nothing of Wonder Woman, whose debut in this movie is, to me, the biggest drawing card WB has--after all, there have been a total of thirteen Superman and Batman films previously, so there's only so much surprise there, even if this is their first meeting.

What about what we did see? I have decided at this point to stop bemoaning the uber-dark approach Snyder and Co. are taking, because at this point it feels like going out in the rain, demanding it stop: this is the film we're getting, so let's just move on when it comes to What Could Have Been. 

Overall, I liked what I saw: the film looks and feels appropriately epic, befitting these two characters appearing together for the first time. The shot of Superman lifting that rocket or whatever over his head looks ripped right from the most iconic images of the Man of Steel from the comics. It made me smile. I don't mind a film or TV show being dark and heavy, if I get a sense of joy from the filmmakers in making it (I find P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights to be a great example of this). That shot of Superman looking so...Superman-ish gave me that tingle that I had just a few hours earlier the same day when I saw the first new footage of Han Solo in thirty years.

So while I'm still a bit skeptical about this whole project, I can't say I'm not excited, even if there was no role for Aquaman. Knowing that in less than a year we'll all know just how good--or not--Batman v Superman is, is very exciting!

Unite The Seven: A Consideration

This image went live yesterday morning, just before I left for work so I really didn't have time to do anything other than post it. A number of people have asked me what I, aka the Shrine, think of it, so now that I've had some time here are a few random thoughts:

• Two hands, thank Neptune!

• All the promotional images that have been pushed out from WB in relation to BvS have been purposely drained of their color. Why I don't know, but people worrying that Aquaman will look like this in the movie should not be quite so concerned--unless Zack Snyder chooses to the shoot the whole movie in near black and white, rest assured Aquaman et al won't look quite this, er, washed out.

• At first glance, "Unite The Seven" seems to suggest the formation of the Justice League as a plot point. But F.O.A.M.er Travis Fowler proposed another idea which I think is just as, if not more, plausible--that the seven refers to the seven seas. After all, as far as we've heard, this film will feature Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg--that's six. Plus, this poster is aimed at the mass moviegoing public, not comic fans--the average moviegoer has no idea that the JLA mainly consists of seven iconic members, so the tagline is meaningless. Yet everyone has heard of the seven seas.

• Finally, about the overall look, since this of course is far from the Aquaman I grew up with and hoped we'd get (i.e., find some actor that looks like a Jim Aparo drawing). To me, what is really important is how they write the character--if the Aquaman seen in Batman v Superman is a powerful, brave hero, protector of all sea life, ruler of 3/4ths of the Earth, then that will be the Sea King I want to see. If they get that right, I won't care that he doesn't look like just like he does in the comics. If they don't get it right, and this live action Aquaman is just some big dumb Conan-type, then it won't matter what the hell he looks like anyway.

So even though us comic nerds are not good at this, we'll just have to wait and see.

Unite The Seven

...aaand here's our first official look at Jason Momoa as Aquaman from Batman v Superman, courtesy Zack Snyder's Twitter feed!

Batman v Superman: 2 Films?

This photo--supposedly taken from the end of the Batman v Superman teaser trailer--has been rocketing around teh interwebs, indicating that the upcoming film will be split into two films, released just five months apart!

Splitting these blockbusters into two films has, for me, always been a negative development creatively, more of a cash grab than anything else. That said, considering how much material is being jammed into Batman v Superman--the film debuts of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, plus Lex Luthor, plus (rumored) Robin the Boy/Girl Wonder, not to mention, you know, Batman and Superman--it only makes sense to do this.

Judging by the titles, I can picture that the first film is mostly Batman with some Superman, ending with a big splashy intro for the other heroes, whetting audience's appetite for the next movie, a scan five five months later. This release plan was something Miramax did with Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, and while one could argue those films were overlong, I do remember thinking how fun it was after seeing the first movie that the second was just around the corner. If Enter The Knight ends with a quick debut of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, that would be very exciting, and could be really, really fun!

Jason Momoa as Aquaman Fan Art Part 2

More Jason Momoa as Aquaman fan art! They all have their good points, but I have to say I really kinda like the Sword of Atlantis-y feel to the one at the uppermost top.

Now that we've seen live action shots of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, let's hope it won't be too long before we start getting glimpses of Dawn of Justice's version of Aquaman!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice UPDATE

It has been officially confirmed in a couple of places (like Empire magazine, above)--Jason Momoa will be playing Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice!

The other news that broke today was DC's ambitious slate of ten films being planned between 2016 and 2020. We have heard through the kelpvine that Mr. Momoa is signed to at least three films--so what does that mean? Will he be Black Widow-ing it, always playing support in other heroes' films? Or will he...dare we say it?...be getting his own film?

Update: The Wrap flat-out says there will be a stand alone Aquaman film!

Happy Birthday Jason Momoa!

Today, August 1, is future screen Aquaman Jason Momoa's birthday! The Shrine wishes him a very happy day and hopefully he'll get to wear something a little more comfortable than the above for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice!

Jason Momoa as Aquaman Fan Art

Here are the first two examples of Jason Momoa as Aquaman fan art that sprung up almost instantly after the news broke. And until we see something official, I'm sure there will be many, many, many more to come.

I dunno, I think these both look pretty good!