This is the first Nygma Universe Aquaman film, and it stars Charlie Hunnam.
Cast[]
- Charlie Hunnam as Aquaman/Orin/Arthur Curry
- Don Cheadle as Black Manta
- Alexander Skarsgard as Orm Marius
- Jamie Bell as Tempest/Garth
- Stephen Fry as Vulko
- Charlie Hunnam (in make-up) as Atlan
- as Atlanna
- as Tom Curry
Plot[]
The spirit of Atlan, Atlantis' greates warrior, impregnates the queen of Atlantis. She gives birth to a son named Orin who has blonde hair. This is considered a curse and the baby is left on the surface, where he is raised in Amnesty Bay, Florida by Tom Curry, a sailor, and named Arthur. One day, a teenaged Arthur is at the aquarium with Tom and as he is watching the little kids poke at the glass on the various enclosures, he suddenly experiences horrible flashes of pain, causing him to black out. He later describes the pain feeling like the sounds of tortured souls crying out. Later, when Arthur sees a dolphin that is bleeding due to being hit by a boat he experiences the same pain. This time, he lashes out, causing the aforementioned boat to capsize, killing the captain. Arthur goes through therapy, and the memory is mostly repressed.
When Arthur is twenty-nine, Tom dies and he gives Arthur his ship, the Mercy Reef. Arthur becomes a sailing champion and a minor celebrity. One day, he is sailing in a race, when suddenly, a storm capsizes his boat and blacks out and drowns upon hitting his head on a rock.
When he wakes up, he is imprisoned in a metal dome, and Vulko is with him. Vulko explains that they are in Atlantis, and tells Arthur about his north parents, and birth name. Arthur doesn't believe him, and tries to escape, but in his rage, he creates a tidal wave which breaks a hole in the dome and rushes in. Arthur tries to break his chains but is unsuccessful. However, much to his surprise he doesn't suffocate.
Vulko releases Arthur from his chains, and Arthur discovers that being in the water feels exactly like being on land does, and Vulko tells him that he is acclimating to his surroundings. Vulko then continues to explain that Atlanna (the queen) is about to die, and the next in line is her half-human son Orm Marius. Arthur asks him why it would be bad if Orm became king, and Vulko explains.
When Atlanna went to the surface one time, she was assaulted by a human, and nine months later, she gave birth to the baby, whom she left in the possession of his father. The child was raised by his father, and when he was twenty, the Atlantean guards came to find him because his father had been killed (it was strongly implied that Orm murdered him). He had been living in Atlantis for the past five years, and was liked by very few people. Arthur agrees to assume the throne, and meets both Atlanna and Orm (whom he is disgusted by).
Almost one year later, Arthur is ruling as King of Atlantis with Orm as his guard captain, and Vulko as his chief advisor. Many people are angry that an Atlantean raised by a human is king, but all agree that he is preferable to Orm. One day, when he is going on a walk with Orm, Arthur sees a human woman fall over the edge of a boat, and drown, and she is being pursued by a shark due to the blood on her leg. Arthur uses telepathy to call off the shark, but it resists, and he goes to fight it (despite Orm telling him not to interfere with surface dwellers), and then saves the woman, who says "Thank you for saving me, aqua-man." Unbeknownst to Arthur, a man records him save the woman and it is revealed that he is the son of the man whose boat was capsized by Arthur, and the man recognizes him.
One day, Orm is in a coral reef where no humans and Atlanteans are around and starts practicing sorcery on the animals, and it is revealed that Orm has various sadistic tendencies. Suddenly, he is attacked by a man in scuba gear who starts punching him furiously. Orm then uses magic to damage the man's scuba suit, and he kicks him to the ground. He then says "I may not be my brother, but I am still strong enough to defeat any human!" The man, revealed to be the same one who saw Aquaman earlier, then realizes that he was attacking the wrong Atlantean. When Orm realizes that the man means to harm Arthur, they agree to create a plan to destroy their shared enemy.
On the surface, Black Manta gathers together a group of various out-of-work people and convinces them to help him in his plan to take over Atlantis, and they will all become rich. When they don't believe him, he shows them footage of Aquaman, and they agree to help him. The group steals high-tech equipment, and Black Manta modifies it for the purposes of the mission. The group calls themselves the Manta-Men.
Meanwhile, a few days later in Atlantis, a royal feast is about to be held to honor Orin's one year anniversary of becoming king. He poisons all of the drinks (including his own, in order to avoid suspicion) with a chemical that affects only Atlanteans, and since he is only half-Atlantean it won't affect him as much. At the feast, everyone begins to consume the drinks, andmeanwhile, Orm secretly opens the gates, allowing the Manta-Men in, and the storm the feast. Arthur leaves to fight the Manta-Men after drinking only half the drink (not yet knowing it was poisoned). However, Orm had already drank the full drink.
Arthur begins to fight one of the Manta-Men, and is about to defeat him, when suddenly Black Manta presses a button, and the Manta-Man blows up, pushing Arthur backwards. It is then revealed that he modified all of the Manta-Man suits to be suicide bombs. Black Manta then tries to kill Arthur, but he is repelled from an attack by an unknown Atlantean. This Atlantean is revealed to be Garth, whose father was an Atlantean guard killed by Orm when he first came to Atlantis, but it was kept secret.
Meanwhile, Orm is searching for Vulko, and finds him in the Atlantean armory, where they fight. Orm is angry at Vulko because if he han't convinced Arthur to return, he would've been king. As they are fighting, Arthur questions how Manta got in, and he reveals that there is a traitor in Atlantis. Arthur realizes that he means Orm, and before going off to find Orm summons a shark that impales Manta's arm and carries him off.