Aquaman = DC's first Marvel movie

[hedrap]

Chris Hemsworth moves tickets for the same reason an Jason Momoa - dare I say Aquaman could have done quite well with him cast in the led as well?

I mentioned that in an earlier thread. Hemsworth is a major bust outside Thor and he's aware of it. He pushed hard to get a George Kirk revival and when that didn't pan out, he jumped on MIB which looks DOA. AQ would have been the perfect second act.

I get your point about law of attraction. RDJ and Cumberbatch benefitted from that. IMO, that's why Scott Eastwood is most likely to be the next Batman. Womenz dig him and for guys, he's Clint's kid.

[jimbutsu]

If this was true, then Thor should have been a bust.

Chris Hemsworth moves tickets for the same reason an Jason Momoa - dare I say Aquaman could have done quite well with him cast in the led as well?

Indulge me for a moment:

My wife enjoys the Marvel movies, but isn't fussed about seeing them right away like I am. But we've seen every Thor in the theater on release weekend.

She doens't give a crap about the DC movies except Wonder Woman, so I went and saw Aquaman on my day off - the conversation went like this:

"How was the movie?"

"I liked it - it was big, dumb, fun!"

"Would you want to go see it again?"

It's business. Business and hormones.

And I'm not singling any gender or preference out - female leads are cast for all the same reasons.

[powersthatbe]

It’s not a marvel movie,it’s a non-Snyder DC movie.

[hedrap]

If this was true, then Thor should have been a bust. Wan didn't cast him, Snyder did. WB had him signed. There's not a lot more inner studio thought going on with his casting then there was with Ryan Reynolds as GL, Affleck as Bats or that weirdo for Flash. They're signing talent wanted by other projects and plugging them in.

Blonde AQ could have worked, but not with this story. It would be too easy to mock as "white guy saves the world, again". Studio marketing would probably order a rewrite to make him bioluminescent underwater, just to avoid that trope. If it was a blonde guy, the best fits are navy or zen surfer.

Someone here pointed out how the bearded AQ has been around for nearly 25 years now. Crazy to think. I hope they bleach Momoa's hair even more. With those contacts it would be really distinct.

I've been thinking about the Marvel influence, and where that's accurate is behind the camera with the director choices. Jenkins and Wan are a lot like when Marvel chose Brannagh and Johnston for Cap and Thor. Both had an easy inroad to understanding the world of those characters. For Wan, there are sequences in Aquaman that are near identical to Furious 7, like the making of Manta's battlesuit.

The real Marvel move? Shoot a post-credit AQ scene for WW84. The demand is high.

[enyawd72]

I wasn't sold on Momoa when he was first announced either, but he pulled it off magnificently. Besides, it's not like there hasn't been a long haired, bearded version of Aquaman before, so I'm fine with it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think Jimbustu is right. Momoa is putting butts in seats. Blonde, "bland" Aquaman would probably never had such appeal. Momoa's somewhat exotic appearance makes the concept more believable to the Muggles possibly as well. Luckily, James Wan built a true Aquaman movie around him, and evolved his character closer to the classic one, believably throughout the film.

Chris

[jimbutsu]

Probably not Charlie Hunnam, Patrick Wilson, or Alexander Skarsgard. Not that I think any of them would have been a bad choice to be Aquaman, but it isn't just us they're trying to sell tickets to.

Big studios exist to make money moreso than they do to preserve artistic intent - if a little bit of "miscasting" sells more tickets, miscasting it is!

[PNGwynne]

Would no other actor have achieved a similar effect?

[jimbutsu]

Trust me - there's a reason Jason Momoa was a good choice for Aquaman - his casting is selling plenty of tickets to people who couldn't give two shakes about Aquaman...

[torgospizza]

The casting was a big obstacle for me and not entirely overcome. I really wanted Charlie Hunnam in the title role.

You know, that's a good suggestion I hadn't considered. Personally, I thought Alexander Skarsgard should have been Aquaman, while Momoa should have been Tarzan. But whatever--I'm just happy we got an Aquaman movie. I never thought that would happen in my lifetime; yet, here we are.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Yeah, I honestly was expecting that, and with Manta and Lex together, my mind goes straight toward Legion of Doom.

Chris

[Jorge Galvan]

it was a damn good film, liked it, and I do wish the last bit was different with

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Manta meeting Deathstroke and/or Luthor instead of some Geek!

Can you say... Secret Society of Super Villians!

[cjefferys]

He was also born to play Scrabby the Elf

For someone who didn't have much experience in comedic acting (as far as I know), Momoa was fantastic in that episode of SNL. Before that I was kind of on the fence with him, but afterwards I thought that he could end up helping make Aquaman as "fun" as a Marvel movie. And I think he did, I thought Aquaman was a blast, and I haven't thought that about any recent DC film.

[Hector]

Arnold spent months with a master swordsman. The guy's in the movie. On shooting days, they choreographed each move and fight repeatedly for accuracy. The actual swords were 9 pounds of carbon steel, crafted in bronze age fashion. That's 3x the weight of a normal sword. He's not trapeezing about like Errol Flynn or someone form a Kung Fu movie because the theme of the movie is iron and steel versus the strength of man.

I prefer this, and would’ve gladly made a 180 and agreed with you.

[Hector]

Sophistry. God sakes. I completely missed the point of the movie.

Those three things are confrontational remarks and are taking this topic way too seriously.