50 Fun Facts About Aquaman

In which comic did Aquaman make his debut in November 1941?

More Fun Comics #73 is right: he was a backup feature created by artist Paul Norris and editor Mort Weisinger, in the same issue that introduced Green Arrow.

Aquaman is the son of the queen of Atlantis and a human with what job?

Lighthouse keeper is right: Tom Curry tended a lighthouse, and his son with Atlanna also goes by the Atlantean name Orin.

What is Aquaman's civilian name?

Arthur Curry is his civilian name, used since the 1959 Silver Age origin that gave him a human father, Tom Curry; Arthur Joseph Curry and Jackson Hyde have also carried the Aquaman title.

During the Silver Age, Aquaman was a founding member of which team?

The Justice League is right: he was among the founders in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), and in 1984 he briefly disbanded and reformed the League with new bylaws.

In his earliest stories, how did Aquaman communicate with sea creatures?

The range was about 20 yards; full telepathy came later and became the butt of a thousand jokes.

Which 1967 show marked the character's first animated appearance?

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Filmation's 1967 CBS series, was his first animated outing; the studio later repackaged his segments as a standalone Aquaman show.

Jokes about Aquaman's wholesome, weak portrayal on which cartoon became a comedy staple?

Super Friends, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon that began in 1973, made him a punchline, and DC responded several times by trying to make him edgier, brooding or more powerful in the comics.

Aquaman's 1961 four-issue solo tryout ran in which DC anthology series?

Showcase is right: issues #30 to #33 in 1961 tested him as a lead, and his first solo series followed in 1962 and ran 56 issues.

In the 1990s comics, Aquaman lost his left hand when Charybdis forced it into a pool of what?

Piranhas did it: in the 1994 Aquaman #2, the villain Charybdis held his hand in their pool until they stripped it, and the maimed, bearded look defined him for the rest of the decade.

What did Aquaman attach to his arm in place of his missing hand?

A harpoon spearhead is right: he fitted a retractable harpoon where the hand had been, and years later swapped it for a hand of magical water.

Which writer's 1990 series The Atlantis Chronicles told the history of Atlantis up to Aquaman's birth?

Peter David wrote The Atlantis Chronicles, a seven-issue 1990 maxiseries drawn by Esteban Maroto that traced the sunken continent's history from its founding to Aquaman's birth.

After which 1985 DC crossover was Aquaman's origin retold in The Legend of Aquaman Special?

Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 1985-86 maxiseries that collapsed DC's multiverse into one continuity, cleared the way for The Legend of Aquaman Special to retell his origin in 1989.

In the Post-Crisis origin, baby Orin was abandoned on Mercy Reef because of what?

His blond hair marked him: superstitious Atlanteans read the colour as the Mark of Kordax, a curse, so the infant was left to die on Mercy Reef.

In which 1963 issue did Mera first appear?

Aquaman #11 (1963) introduced her: Mera was created by writer Jack Miller and artist Nick Cardy and hails from the other-dimensional realm then called Dimension Aqua.

Mera's home realm, originally called Dimension Aqua, was later renamed what?

Xebel is the later name, introduced in 2010's Brightest Day, which revealed the realm as a penal colony for a banished faction of Atlanteans; Mera wields hydrokinetic hard-water powers there.

The archenemy Black Manta first appeared in which 1967 issue?

Aquaman #35, dated September-October 1967, introduced Black Manta; writer Bob Haney and artist Nick Cardy created him as a ruthless mercenary in a black wetsuit.

What is the distinctive feature of Black Manta's costume?

A large bug-eyed metal helmet is the trademark, its red lenses firing energy blasts, worn over a black wetsuit since his 1967 debut.

Ocean Master, who debuted in Aquaman #29 in 1966, is what relation to Aquaman?

His half-brother is right: Orm Curry was originally Tom Curry's son by another woman, a jealous human; later versions made him fully Atlantean as Orm Marius.

The first Aqualad, Garth, has what unusual physical trait marking him as an outcast?

Purple eyes marked him: Atlantean superstition treated the colour as a bad omen, so Garth was cast out as a baby; he later took the name Tempest, and Jackson Hyde became the second Aqualad in 2010.

In which comic did the first Aqualad debut?

Adventure Comics #269 (1960) introduced Garth; Aquaman had been a backup fixture in Adventure Comics since 1946, which is why his sidekick debuted there.

Aquaman and Mera's son, Arthur Jr., was nicknamed what?

Aquababy was the nickname: the boy was suffocated by Black Manta in a 1977 Adventure Comics story, a death that haunted both parents for decades.

Which actor played Aquaman in the live-action series Smallville?

Alan Ritchson played him, first in the 2005 Smallville episode Aqua, and he later starred as Jack Reacher in Amazon's Reacher.

What happened to Justin Hartley's 2006 Aquaman TV pilot after the CW passed on it?

It became the No. 1 download on iTunes after Warner Bros. released the unaired pilot there in July 2006; Hartley's A.C. Curry ran a dive shop in the Florida Keys.

In which film did Jason Momoa first appear as Aquaman, in a cameo?

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) gave Momoa his first appearance, a brief clip in Lex Luthor's metahuman files, and the character's live-action film debut.

Before Aquaman, Momoa was best known as Khal Drogo on which series?

Game of Thrones is right: Momoa played the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo in its first season in 2011, after Ronon Dex on Stargate Atlantis and a start on Baywatch: Hawaii.

Who directed the 2018 Aquaman film?

James Wan directed it: the horror director behind Saw and The Conjuring signed on in 2015, three years before the film's December 2018 release.

How much did the 2018 Aquaman film gross worldwide?

$1.152 billion is the figure, which made it the highest-grossing film of the DC Extended Universe and, at the time, the biggest film based on a DC character.

Where was principal photography for the 2018 film based?

The Gold Coast, Australia was the base: Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland hosted principal photography from May 2017, with additional units in Canada, Italy and Morocco.

Who plays Orm, the Ocean Master, in the films?

Patrick Wilson plays Orm in both films, and in the 2023 sequel Arthur has to break him out of prison and team up with him against Black Manta.

Which actress plays Queen Atlanna, Arthur's mother, in the films?

Nicole Kidman plays Atlanna, who washes up at Amnesty Bay, Maine, in 1985 and is taken in by Thomas Curry, Arthur's father, before Atlantis drags her back.

Who plays Nuidis Vulko, the Atlantean vizier who trains young Arthur, in the 2018 film?

Willem Dafoe plays Vulko, and he was digitally de-aged for the flashback scenes in which the vizier trains the young Arthur.

Which action star plays Nereus, Mera's father, in the Aquaman films?

Dolph Lundgren plays King Nereus, whom Orm tricks into an alliance by staging a fake surface attack on their meeting.

Which actor plays David Kane, who becomes Black Manta, in the films?

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays David Kane, whose father Jesse dies pinned by a torpedo in a flooding submarine after Arthur refuses to help, fuelling his revenge.

Which screen legend voices the Karathen, the sea monster guarding the Trident of Atlan?

Julie Andrews voices the Karathen, the colossal sea creature Arthur must win over to claim the trident, which grants command of the seven seas.

In the 2018 film, Arthur and Mera find the Trident's coordinates after a clue leads them to which island?

Sicily is right: after the Sahara clue, Mera and Arthur travel to the hilltop town of Erice in Sicily, where they decode the route to the Trident before Black Manta attacks.

What are the amphibious monsters that attack Arthur and Mera at sea called?

The Trench are the creatures: pale, piranha-like amphibians that swarm Arthur and Mera's boat at night, and Arthur later leads them, along with the Karathen, into battle against Orm.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) holds what place in the DC Extended Universe?

The 15th and final DCEU film is right: the sequel closed the DC Extended Universe in December 2023 ahead of James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted DC Universe, and it drew negative reviews.

In the Lost Kingdom, Manta is possessed by which cursed weapon found in Antarctica?

The Black Trident is the weapon: forged by Kordax, brother of King Atlan, it possesses David Kane with Kordax's spirit and drives him to free the lost seventh kingdom.

In the Lost Kingdom, what is the name of the lost seventh kingdom ruled by Kordax?

Necrus is the lost seventh kingdom, frozen under Antarctica, whose ruler Kordax, brother of King Atlan, forged the cursed weapon that possesses Manta.

How much did Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom gross worldwide?

$440 million was the worldwide take, less than half of the first film's, against a production budget reported at over $200 million.

In the Silver Age comics, Aquaman gained a weakness: he would die unless he did what?

Touched water at least once an hour is right: the one-hour rule arrived in the Silver Age to give him a limit like other heroes' weaknesses, whereas the Golden Age version could stay on land indefinitely.

The 1986 four-issue miniseries gave Aquaman a short-lived costume in which colour?

Blue is right: writer Neal Pozner's 1986 miniseries put Arthur in a deep-sea camouflage suit, and that design inspired the stealth suit he wears in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Which writer launched the New 52 Aquaman series in 2011 with artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado?

Geoff Johns launched the 2011 series and wrote it through issue 25, steering it into the Throne of Atlantis crossover with the League's own title in 2012 and 2013.

In the films, what is the name of the giant seahorse Arthur rides as his steed?

Storm is the name, and it is a tribute: in the 1967 Filmation cartoon Aquaman already rode a giant seahorse called Storm, while Aqualad rode one named Imp.

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the drum-playing covert operative T.O.P.O. is what kind of animal?

An octopus is right: Topo, short for Tactical Observation and Pursuit Operative, is the drum-playing cephalopod updated from Aquaman's octopus sidekick of the 1950s comics.

Principal photography on Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom used five stages at which English studio?

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden hosted the shoot, which began in June 2021 on five of its stages, with an external water tank built alongside the backlot.

In 2015 the future director of Aquaman chose it over which other DC film?

The Flash was the other offer: the director felt the speedster had already been done on screen and preferred the untested underwater world.

Jason Momoa was born in Honolulu but raised in which US state after his parents divorced?

Iowa is right: he grew up in Norwalk, south of Des Moines, and graduated from Norwalk High School before returning to Hawaii, where he was cast in Baywatch Hawaii at 19.

During Infinite Crisis, Aquaman's ritual raised which sunken city onto dry land?

Sub Diego, the sunken half of San Diego, was raised back onto land by his ritual, at a price: he mutated into the amnesiac Dweller of the Depths, clearing the way for a younger successor to take the name.

In which country was the 2018 Aquaman film released two weeks before its US debut?

China got it first, on December 7, 2018, where it opened to $93.6 million and passed Wonder Woman's entire lifetime gross in the country within three days.