Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where I talk about all the goings on in the nerd world!
So it's been a crazy past few months for DC comics as they announce and reveal all sorts of new looks at upcoming films and franchises. Yesterday, they even announced both the title of the third season of Young Justice and a live action show: Titans based around the teen team of the same name (which will star Dick Grayson as Nightwing, accompanied by Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and a few others for their initial team. However, among all this great news there is more news of which I am not exactly sure how I feel.
Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, Expendables 1,2,&3) has been announced to play Aquaman villain: Nereus in the upcoming Aquaman film that starts it's shooting here this summer. This will make Nereus the 3rd villain confirmed for the film (along with Patrick Wilson's Orm/Ocean Master, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta). That's right, 3 villains, one movie. This is worrisome even if it weren't for the less than inspiring track record that superhero films with 3 villains have had in the past (*cough* looking at you Spider Man III). This is especially the case since these 3 characters are A listers in Aquaman's Rogue's gallery. While Jason Momoa certainly looks beefy enough to take on 3 rogues at the same time, each of these characters are good enough and powerful enough to deserve their own film.
Orm: The Ocean Master
There are many different iterations of this character, however, I feel that he reaches his best in New 52, so that's the one that I will be talking about. Orm was the legitimate son of Queen Atlanta and her husband (apparently this king of Atlantis was too much of a jobber for us to know much of anything about him other than he was kind of a dick). Anyways, upon finding out that he had a brother living on the surface world, he reacted in quite possibly the most unexpected way you would think for someone finding out there was someone more favored for the throne than them: he wanted to go to the surface with a special forces squad of Atlanteans and save his brother from the "evil surface world." When they finally met years later, Orm even abdicated the Atlantean throne to his older brother, and acted as one of his chief advisers. During Arthur's youth he was angry at the world that had fostered him after the loss of his father at the hands of another villain on this list, and so he and Orm together planned an Atlantean war seal detailing the plans and magics for an invasion of the surface if the need ever should arise.
Eventually Arthur turned his back from these plans and notions of invasion and decided that coexistence between surface and Atlantis was a better option. He left the throne to Orm once more and so Orm resumed the rule over the Atlantean people while Arthur built report with the surface world before revealing Atlantis' existence to humanity. Orm was once again monarch but only did so until Arthur thought he was ready to resume his post. However, during this time, a former chief advisor: Vulko, set in motion a plot to ensure Arthur's re-ascension to the throne. Missiles from a surface vessel struck home on Atlantean soil, and Orm was forced to invade. The war seal was broken and Atlantis stormed the east coast under the guise of a hurricane, decimating populations in harbor towns such as Boston, with Orm leading the charge.
Aquaman tried to reason with is brother and the League, but upon seeing the poor treatment of his brother by his new super powered associates caused a feral rage toward both parties and he attacked both of them. Eventually Orm was defeated and imprisoned at Bel Reve where he awaited trial for thousands of accounts of first degree murder, press dubbing him: "The Ocean Master."
Black Manta
Again I am going to use the New 52 story for Manta. New 52 was not the greatest relaunch of a universe, however the work they did for Aquaman and his respective universe was one of the biggest silver linings. Black Manta was a mercenary in the comics and was hired by a former and rebuked tutor of Arthur curry to "scare" Arthur into coming back to him. However, the incident ended in Arthur's father's demise. Thomas Curry was killed by Black Manta, and in a fit of revenge, Arthur tracked down his father's killer and murdered him in cold blood... or so he thought. At Arthur's foot lay an old man slain and in front of Arthur, his father's killer knelt breathless as he looked down to see his father dying in his arms. Killing Manta's father is what Arthur considers to be his ultimate shame, and similarly it is the deed that has permanently sewn the hatred Manta feels for this king of Atlantis. No matter how many lives Arthur saves, it will never equate to the life he took in his father (apparently Manta didn't have too much an appreciation of karmic retribution). The two's blood feud might be simple, but it's one of the most vicious feuds in the DC universe at this point.
Nereus
Nereus is literally a product of the New 52 from what I can tell. There isn't a whole lot to say about him at this point. He has only really appeared a few times, but I feel that he is going to be a key player soon, as the last time we saw him he was recruiting Orm as an ally against his half brother. Nereus is a king of a rogue faction of Atlantis, and was also the original promised husband to Arthur's wife: Mera. Mera initially was meant to assassinate Arthur so that Nereus could invade and claim Arthur's overthrow the main empire of Atlantis and ascend to the throne. However, there was a monkey wrench thrown into that plan when Mera fell for her target upon realizing that he was NOTHING at all what had been described to her. Naturally Nereus is a bit peeved that Arthur "stole" his intended betrothed, so he hates Arthur for that reason alone.
As you can see all three of these characters are strong enough to hold their own in a film, the only one that can really pull off being a side character is Nereus, but that's more for a lack of material to go on for the most part. While I have immense faith in the Director of the film: James Wan, I just don't want a repeat of the fiasco that was Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, where you had two A list Aquaman villains that have to compete for screen time in a 70 minute animated feature. Spoiler alert: this resulted in Orm being reduced to an incompetent and incoherent cry baby with mommy issues, and a Black Manta who came off as a half baked Iago whose greatest accomplishment all film was being eaten by a Great White shark in the film's finale. All in all I still expect good things, but while I want to be excited on the casting news of Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, I can't help but worry that the boat might get to heavy to float, and as everyone is fairly aware of at this point, the DCEU can't really afford another sinking ship.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! see you again real soon!
(ps here's a meme of Black Manta getting eaten by a great white)
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