Huh.
Who would have ever guessed Aquaman-arguably the least sexy super hero ever-would save the DCEU?
Who would have thought The King of Atlantis, a hero no one knew anything about until Jason Mamoa began wielding the trident, a super hero most people thought of as the boring, orange shirt wearing castoff from the super hero cartoons of their childhood, would save a super hero universe that Superman and Batman couldn’t.
Aquaman.
And it turns out there’s a very valuable lesson to be learned in the King of the High Seas box office dominance.
Following this weekend, Aquaman is the DCEU’s second highest grossing domestic movie, collecting more than 331 million greenbacks in North American markets so far. While it won’t catch Wonder Woman for the DCEU’s highest grossing domestic honours (Princess Diana grossed over 421 million domestically), it has become DC’s highest grossing global title, raking in over 1.13 billion worldwide so far.
It is the only DCEU movie to hit the illustrious billion dollar mark.
Aquaman’s success has many heralding it as the DCEU’s saviour, paving the way for a cinematic resurrection. There are no shortage of fans and pundits who think that Aquaman (yes, Aquaman) will save the same DCEU after it was given up for dead following the disastrous Justice League.
All of that may be a little overboard, but no one can deny Aquaman’s success. And that success should teach DC a lesson it has repeatedly failed to learn, even following the success of Wonder Woman. A lesson that has prevented it from enjoying the kind of success Marvel has had for the past decade. Because regardless of Aquaman’s blockbusting triumph, DC doesn’t have many box office lives left.
While Man of Steel managed a humble profit when it hit theatres in 2013, Warner Bros. was decidedly disappointed with it’s box office performance (especially since Iron Man 3 joined the aforementioned billion dollar club that same summer). DC and Warner were so concerned by Superman’s underwhelming debut they suspended plans for a solo Superman sequel amid concerns that he could helm a movie all by his lonesome.
They brought in the box office tested (and recast) Batman to act as a crutch to prop the big blue boy scout up in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (more on that a little later).
DC’s first red flag should have been the lukewarm, somewhat dubious response Man of Steel received from Superman and comic book fans alike. They had a number of problems with the newest silver screen take on the world’s most iconic superhero. Pa Kent’s advice going from “protect the weak and stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves” to “keep your gifts a secret, even if it means letting others die” was one glaring example, but their biggest complaint was the climactic battle scene between Superman and General Zod’s Krytponian invaders.
Or more importantly, the fact that Supes didn’t even try to move the battle away from a major populated area. The final battle between the Krytponians not only levelled a city (and filled Bruce Wayne with a homicidal bloodlust for Kal-El), but would have also left thousands dead and maimed.
It left many longtime Superman fans disappointed, muttering that it wasn’t “their Superman.”
The same thing happened when Ben Affleck’s Batman branded criminals before he beat them within an inch of their lives and wreaked havoc with the machine gun cannons and rocket launchers the Batmobile now sported. For nearly eighty years, Batman’s only real rule was that he never killed (deliberately at least). Christopher Nolan made an entire movie about it (which coincidentally was also the most successful and popular movie of his acclaimed Dark Knight Trilogy).
Yet this new version of The Dark Knight Detective killed repeatedly, with neither hesitation nor regret. It wasn’t the same Batman millions of fans, casual or otherwise, had grown up with through countless comic books, TV shows, cartoons and movies. Instead movie-goers felt like they were watching a stranger impersonating their favourite hero; the Punisher wearing a cape and cowl.
And fan disappointment was reflected in the bottom line of both films (yes BvS made lots of money, but while it should have easily been DC’s first billion dollar entry, it couldn’t even limp over the 900 million mark despite starring the world’s two most popular super heroes and enjoying an enormous opening weekend).
The reason some comic book characters have survived for generations across numerous mediums is that each has a core principle that resonates with people. Superman is a Messiah who tries to show us a better way. Batman is a terrorist who preys on criminals, obsessed with avenging a crime he can never prevent. Wonder Woman is a warrior goddess fighting for peace. Captain America is a living embodiment of the American ideal. Wolverine is a living weapon desperately trying to hold onto his humanity. Thor is a god in love with mortal fragility. And so on.
The reason why Marvel has been so successful is because they identify what has allowed their characters to survive the test of time and successfully translate those qualities to the big screen (or they’ve identified what can allow a character to connect with audiences, turning obscure characters like The Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man into household names).
That’s why Wonder Woman was such a huge success. Patty Jenkins brought the most essential parts of the Amazon Princess to convincing life.
But what does Aquaman stand for? What is his mission statement? Does he fight for truth, justice and the American way? Does he fight to take back the night from superstitious and cowardly criminals? Does he fight for the peaceful co-existence of his people along with the rest of humanity,? Does he fight for country or to ease the guilt of failing to save Uncle Ben?
The truth is no one knows. Aquaman was a complete unknown to just about everyone on the planet outside of comic book fans. He was a blank slate. A character a movie couldn’t mess up because no one knew who he was or what he stood for.
And that anonymity may turn out to be the biggest thing Aquaman had going for it.
Make no mistake, it wasn’t the only trick the movie had up its sleeve. Jason Mamoa did for Aquaman what Gal Gadot did for Wonder Woman, what Chadwick Boseman did for Black Panther and RDJ did for Tony Stark. There was some excellent world building, the visual effects were outstanding and there were some strong action scenes. Director James Waan also deserves a huge pat on the back for keeping the movie light and entertaining.
But in the end the true secret to Aquaman’s success was the freedom from character expectations.
Now its up to DC to learn that if they want to continue on this path, they need to stop messing with the characters that have been embraced by generations of fans the world over. Keep true to their heroes’ core, to their spirit. It was a bullet that Aquaman’s anonymity let them avoid, a bonus that they may enjoy again with April’s Shazam!. But if they stray from the heart of their iconic characters again in the future, they may just find themselves back where they were in the disappointing days following Justice League.
But if they’re paying attention, they just may bask in the glory of a few more billion dollar block busters.
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
