Aquaman trailer.

[Crazedwraith]

It's almost as if the quality of characters is unconnected to any noble titles.

[The Romulan Republic]

I don't hold an aristocratic birth against someone- we don't choose our ancestors. What matter is what they do with the position they were born into. If they take the job seriously, respect any existing limits on their power (ie constitutional monarchy), and try to genuinely serve the interests of the people, they get some respect, though I will still object to hereditary aristocracy on principle, same as any other system which puts some people above others based on heredity. This applies to Leia, and as far as I know to Aquaman as well.

If they actively try to renounce their position/give up their inherited wealth/abdicate- then they get my absolute support and respect.

[K. A. Pital]

But really, even having a name like Aquaman? I mean, "Captain Nobody" for a dude who's pissed at the Empire and comes from below sinking their SHIPSES, that's awesome.

"Aquaman" is pretty much Water Man. It's... bad.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah, the name is a bit lame. If I was going to create an ocean-based hero, I'd call him/her... I don't know, Captain Atlantis or something.

[K. A. Pital]

Yeah, the name is a bit lame. If I was going to create an ocean-based hero, I'd call him/her... I don't know, Captain Atlantis or something.

I'd call him the fricken Kraken. It'd be like an undersea hulk

Or if it's a female hero, she could be Medusa, Nereide, Thetys or something. All cool names.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah, the name is a bit lame. If I was going to create an ocean-based hero, I'd call him/her... I don't know, Captain Atlantis or something.

I'd call him the fricken Kraken. It'd be like an undersea hulk

The Kracken is better, yeah.

[Q99]

I'm not a big Aquaman fan, but even I know that judging Aquaman on Superfriends is like judging modern Batman on the '60s show.

And heck, the West show was good camp at least, Superfriends had way lower amounts of effort put into it.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Yeah, the name is a bit lame. If I was going to create an ocean-based hero, I'd call him/her... I don't know, Captain Atlantis or something.

I'd call him the fricken Kraken. It'd be like an undersea hulk

Or if it's a female hero, she could be Medusa, Nereide, Thetys or something. All cool names.

Or use the name of a character from Chinese mythology who lives underwater: Long Wang.

[The Romulan Republic]

But really, there is nothing wrong with Aquaman conceptually. He just has image problems.

[Q99]

But really, even having a name like Aquaman? I mean, "Captain Nobody" for a dude who's pissed at the Empire and comes from below sinking their SHIPSES, that's awesome.

"Aquaman" is pretty much Water Man. It's... bad.

It's straightforward. Consider for a moment Superman and Batman, how they follow the same convention, but have carried forward fairly well. Heck, 'Superman' is more generic when you get down to it, it doesn't say anything about his powers or who he is other than him being 'super'.

Yeah, the name is a bit lame. If I was going to create an ocean-based hero, I'd call him/her... I don't know, Captain Atlantis or something.

I'd call him the fricken Kraken. It'd be like an undersea hulk

Or if it's a female hero, she could be Medusa, Nereide, Thetys or something. All cool names.

Not bad names, but those seem to me like they'd fit a fairly different character than Arthur Curry.

[K. A. Pital]

It's straightforward. Consider for a moment Superman and Batman, how they follow the same convention, but have carried forward fairly well. Heck, 'Superman' is more generic when you get down to it, it doesn't say anything about his powers or who he is other than him being 'super'.

Batman's a pretty generic name, just as Spiderman and so on, whereas "Superman" certainly has, and benefits from, all the philosophical baggage associated with it (Nietzsche and such). Hence, even if it follows the same generic convention, it is not lame. "Aquaman", sadly, is. There's little love for the Water Dude.

Not bad names, but those seem to me like they'd fit a fairly different character than Arthur Curry.

I mean, you could choose any Greek name and be much better off, especially with the whole "Atlantean" thing.

[Crazedwraith]

Ah, it's lame because it is lame. Great argument.

[Q99]

I mean, you could choose any Greek name and be much better off, especially with the whole "Atlantean" thing.

On that (1) his Atlantis isn't very greek, and (2) he's not from Atlantis. Rather, he's half-atlantean but was raised by a light house keeper so he's of two worlds.

That and naming him 'Triton' or 'Poseidon' or such is also automatically evoking another, non-him character.

[Elheru Aran]

Not to mention that Poseidon already has a place in the DC Universe as part of Wonder Woman's pantheon anyway, and making Aquaman a more or less literal incarnation of one of her deities would be... awkward.

But honestly, it's just in bad taste to mock someone because they have a stupid name. "Aquaman", at least, tells you something about the character. It's not like it's "Boaty McBoatface" or something like that. If anything, it's -more- descriptive than "Batman" which pretty much just says "this is a man involved with bats in some fashion". Is Bruce Wayne merely a rich guy with a bat fetish? (okay, it could totally be that)

Superhero names just have to have -something- to do with the character. It's not like they need to tell you the character's life story or anything. They're a way to open the door (or cover, as it were) and get the reader started.

[The Romulan Republic]

Ah, it's lame because it is lame. Great argument.

He's lame because Superfriends made him a butt of jokes rather than a serious character, and he didn't have the status/high profile in popular culture that Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman had to survive the age of camp and still remain popular in the age of grimdark, nor did he have directors on the level of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan to rehabilitate his image.

Though I don't think its fair to compare him to Batman. I don't think any other superhero has the shear coolness and pop culture staying power of Batman.

The one big criticism I would make of Aquaman off the top of my head is that a hero who's powers are specifically water-based is somewhat more limited in the sorts of stories and settings he lends himself to than, say, Superman. But there's still a lot you can do with him, and its not like he's useless on-land. So its a fairly minor complaint.

Is Bruce Wayne merely a rich guy with a bat fetish? (okay, it could totally be that)

Nah, if anything he has a cat fetish.

[Crazedwraith]

Ah, it's lame because it is lame. Great argument.

He's lame because Superfriends made him a butt of jokes rather than a serious character....

Yes, I know there are arguments to be made. I'm just mocking the lack of argument K.A.Pital (heh, capital? I just got there was maybe a joke there) provided.

[Tribble]

At least Superfriends spawned a great south park episode, where I believed he was called Seaman. And had a pet/sidekick bird named Swallow. Ya, that's the definitive version for me

[The Romulan Republic]

At least Superfriends spawned a great south park episode, where I believed he was called Seaman.

Ah, was that the one where they had superheroes based on various religious figures? That one could never be made now- it came out shortly before 9/11, in that distant time when you could show an image of Mohamed on television without causing international riots.

[K. A. Pital]

Yes, I know there are arguments to be made. I'm just mocking the lack of argument K.A.Pital (heh, capital? I just got there was maybe a joke there) provided.

Indeed... I like puns. I like Deadpool, too.

[Q99]

He's lame because Superfriends made him a butt of jokes rather than a serious character, and he didn't have the status/high profile in popular culture that Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman had to survive the age of camp and still remain popular in the age of grimdark, nor did he have directors on the level of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan to rehabilitate his image.

Nah, it's not that they made him the butt of jokes purposefully- they treated every hero 'seriously'- it's that the stuff to make him look useful was normally incredibly contrived and he just came across as so redundant, and lacking any emphasis on his physical abilities, he just came across as a normal guy with fish-speaking powers and oh look he's come up with a reason to talk to a whale this episode!


Basically it did a really bad job of making it feel like he had a reason to be there.

[madd0ct0r]

The trailer looks very uninspiring. Very serious factions with terrible dialogue lining up and running at each other

[Q99]

One of the big questions is "How much did they learn from Wonder Woman?". It was approved before hand, but unlike Justice League, they had time to more actively take cues.