The final trailer for the upcoming Aquaman film has officially been released!
And we FINALLY got to see Jason Momoa in his full classic Aquaman suit, something that
had only been hinted to in the action figures DC had released for the film.
But there’s a lot of other things that have been jam packed into this trailer, giving
us a better look at the political climate in Atlantis, what kinds of fight sequences
we can expect, and even more on Arthur Curry’s childhood.
So today, we’re taking a look at the Easter Eggs you might have missed, along with any
references we’ve noticed, and a few explanations about certain shots and what they may mean
for the film overall.
Let’s dive in!
9 Talks to Fish One of the biggest revelations this trailer
gave fans was that, yes, Aquaman will be communicating with fish in this movie.
Rejoice!
But unlike the very comical or satirical takes of Aquaman talking to fish that we’ve gotten
over the years, this one feels a little more subtle, similar to the previous ‘talking
to fish’ shot we got in the last trailer, which showed Arthur communicating with a fish
behind glass.
This time, we see Aquaman in action, outstretching his hand, with a CGI wave emitting from him.
In the comics, this ability is known as marine telepathy.
Rather than having a chat with the aquatic life, as is often the joke, Aquaman directly
communicates with sea life telepathically.
As he puts it in the New 52, “Fish don’t talk.
Their brains are too primate to carry on a conversation.
I reach into their midbrains and telepathically push them to help me out.”
The waves in the trailer are also very similar aesthetically to how this ability is depicted
in the new 52.
8 Aquaman’s Logo Right off the bat, within the first three
seconds of the trailer, there’s a shot that reveals what appears to be some sort of Atlantean
structure.
Take a close look at the entrance way that all the ships are heading towards, the bit
with light emitting from it in the center of the frame.
It’s the Aquaman logo, or rather, the glyph that stands for Atlantis.
In the New 52, in Aquaman issue 5, Arthur explicitly states that the A on his belt doesn’t
stand for Aquaman, but that it stands for Atlantis in the Atlantean alphabet.
7 The Maelstrom There’s a whole lot of shots of lava in
this trailer.
This could very well be linked to something that has appeared in the comics known as the
Maelstrom.
The Maelstrom is a long forgotten device in Atlantis that allowed for space-time deviations
in order to transport people or things over vast distances, and even other planes of existence.
It has something called a Hell Tablet, which is a penal existence where old Atlantis would
banish its enemies and criminals, and in the past acted as a prison.
Considering in the trailer it exists during the trial by combat scenes, it wouldn’t
be surprising if there’s some sort of connection there.
The Maelstrom is something that appears within volume 7 of Aquaman, aka the new 52, between
issue 28 and 40 on various occasions.
6 Black Manta & Ocean Masters Guard About mid way through the trailer, there’s
a sequence that features Black Manta not wearing his traditional Black Manta armour.
Just prior to it, you can see ship being sucked into what appears to be a larger Atlantean
ship.
In the next shot, he’s approached by Ocean Master’s Guard.
This sequence has spawned a theory that Black Manta, who has been confirmed to have a vendetta
against Arthur, believing he’s responsible for his father’s death as in the comics
in the new 52, will be approached by Ocean Master in order to form an allegiance.
5 Atlantis Above Ground We get to see a ton of shots featuring Atlantis
and a white haired King ruling over the city.
Many believe that this is King Atlan, the king that reigned over Atlantis before Aquaman
was born.
Based on the trailer and the kinds of shots Atlan appears in, it seems as if the film
will be taking inspiration from the New Earth Atlan (minus him being Aquaman’s father)
instead of the Prime Earth one, who was significantly more nefarious.
And insane.
Anywho, its speculated that these shots of Atlantis are part of a flashback, perhaps
what the film will open with in order to provide context about Atlantis, what happened to it’s
previous King, and why it is now a sunken kingdom.
4 The Dolphins Aquaman has quite the history with Dolphins.
And not just in the comical and now very parodied Superfriends animated series.
Dolphins play a huge role in the comics with the character, too.
So, in the trailer, during the montage sequence that features Willem Dafoe as Vulko training
a young Arthur, we see a shot of Arthur swimming with a group of dolphins.
While these days, Aquaman’s origins are much cleaner continuity wise, back in the
post-crisis days, they were a bit of a mess.
Thee first detailed origin story we got about Aquaman was in Adventure Comics issue 260
in 1959 that attempted to explain his origins in a story called How Aquaman Got His Powers.
This is now perceived as the Earth One origin story.
But there was a really confusing one that came out in 1994 in Aquaman Time and Tide
issue 2 that was much more of a Tarzan esque upbringing, and included DOLPHINS, who raised
him and taught him everything he knew.
3 The Matrix If this and the previous trailers are any
sign, the Aquaman movie will be jam packed full of action sequences.
But there’s a few details about some of these sequences that have really stuck out
to viewers, particularly where director James Wann has pulled inspiration from.
In the trailer, you’ll notice a shot of Orm leaning backwards, avoiding the attack
of a trident.
This shot has quite the similarity to the kinds of close up ‘dodging’ shots that
were in the Matrix franchise.
According to one viewer named Gavin Feng who took to Twitter after seeing the 25 minute
preview screening of the movie in Bejing, which was primarily just action sequences,
“The best reaction I’ve see so far is James Wan give audience the LOTR and The Matrix
level battle.”
Based on the shots of the battle scenes featuring Orm’s army fighting off the Xebel army,
we can see where that Lord of the Rings influence will be in play.
2 The Holographic Transmission In the trailer, there’s a scene where Arthur
and Mera are listening to a holographic transmission of what appears to be King Atlan.
These kinds of holographs are nothing new to the Aquaman narratives though.
In the comics, specifically in the new 52 Aquaman, Vol 7, issue 5, a similar scene occurs,
except Arthur is not with Mera, and the holographic transmission isn’t Atlan.
Rather, it’s an Atlantan soldier.
Aquaman finds a device in a cave and activates it, revealing this holographic transmission
in which the soldier says that Atlantis is in danger.
Considering the location that the two are in while watching this transmission in the
film, this message from Atlan could arguably have the same kind of warning, especially
if it was recorded just prior to his death.
1 The Karaqan One of the biggest holy crap moments in the
trailer comes in the form of what appears to be a Kraken like creature.
That could very well be a Karaqan, a massive creature that first appeared in the New 52
Aquaman issue 26 back in 2014.
It was resurrected by Triton off of the coast of Iceland in the comic, and Aquaman had to
use his trident to defeat it, with the trident being the only weapon capable of piercing
its skin.
Since the film seems to be pulling a lot of inspiration from the New 52, having this creature
be the Karaqan could be very plausible.
Alright, there we have it friends!
What else did you spot in the Aquaman trailer?
Any other hidden secrets or references we should’ve mentioned on our list?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know!
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