Hey Rajesh, it turns out Aquaman doesn't suck.

Aquaman a.k.a. Arthur Curry in all his orange and green glory in Aquaman: The Trench. 

If there's one DC superhero who's always gotten a bad rap, it'd have to be Aquaman.  When most people think of Aquaman they imagine the guy in bright orange and green spandex who talks to fish.  Aquaman's been the butt of many jokes about his apparent uselessness, from Family Guy to the Big Bang Theory.  Even for fans like me who always thought he was underappreciated, I found out there was a lot about him I didn't know.  When DC launched the New 52 to put a fresh spin on their most timeless characters, Aquaman got a much needed update at the hands of Geoff Johns. 

I got around to reading Vol. 1 of Aquaman New 52, The Trench, having already been familiar with the basic plotline after reading Vol. 3 of Justice League, Throne of Atlantis.  The events of the first volume provide a glimpse at Aquaman's struggle to make a life for himself and wife Mera with us land dwellers.  Like most of the New 52 stories he's worked on, Johns does a good job setting Aquaman in familiar, modern settings and one of the aspects that immediately hooked me was the story's self referential nature.  For instance, after Aquaman singlehandedly stops an armored truck robbery with help from his trusty trident, he stops at a seafood place and orders fish and chips for lunch, much to the shock of the mystified customers.  Soon he's confronted by a blogger who bombards him with questions about Aquaman jokes on SNL and then curtly asks how it feels to be nobody's favorite superhero.  I thought it was fantastic how Johns tackled Aquaman's lowly superhero status head on and in such a funny way.  I also enjoyed how Aquaman corrects many common misconceptions about his abilities; he clarifies that he doesn't talk to fish, but instead telepathically reaches into their midbrains and pushes them to help him out. Dolphins however, are another story he says.  Lines like that had me laughing while I was learning the actual truth about his abilities. 

Johns also makes Aquaman out to be a real badass in this book.   He stops the armored truck hijacking by ramming his trident into the grill and flipping the whole truck over.  While not totally bulletproof like Superman, bullets seem to do little more than sting him and he can leap incredible distances.  For those unfamiliar with Aquaman's origins, his father was a human lighthouse keeper and his mother was a Queen of Atlantis, yes the legendary ancient city that supposedly sank into the ocean.  Despite what humans believe, Atlantis does in fact exist, but at this point Aquaman, who is the rightful king of Atlantis, has no desire to lead but instead wants to live on land with his wife Mera, a fiery redheaded Atlantean.  They live in the lighthouse Arthur's father maintained, trying to adjust to a life on land.  Unfortunately, that's when a horde of flesh eating humanoid fish rise from the black depths of the mid-Atlantic ridge and come ashore, where they kill many people and carry others back underwater wrapped in special cocoons.  The overwhelmed police seek out Aquaman and Mera and together they beat back a swarm of the hungry creatures.   

The action scenes are dynamic and fluid, due to the incredible artwork by Ivan Reis, who's become a favorite of mine.  His art is incredibly detailed, down to Aquaman's intricate orange scale armor, but never feels cluttered or confusing.  The humanoid fish that rise from out the Trench are modeled after bioluminescent angler fish and look pretty freaky.  After forcing the creatures back to sea, Aquaman and Mera visit Stephen Shin, a marine biologist friend of his father's, to examine one of the dead creatures.  He determines that they came from the mid-Atlantic ridge and Aquaman and Mera descend into the black only to discover what appears to be an ancient Atlantean craft imbedded in a deep sea thermal vent.  The craft has primitive Atlantean symbols which confirm the craft crashed there long before Atlantis sank.  This begs the question, what were Atlanteans doing that far down in the ocean before Atlantis sank? Arthur and Mera are soon confronted by the queen of the flesh eating fish, but manage to carry the people trapped in cocoons back to the surface and collapse the Trench to keep the starving creatures from attacking again. 

The rest of the volume follows Aquaman as he works to unravel the mystery of the ancient Atlantean ship.  We also learn more about Mera, including the fact that she once was determined to kill Arthur years before she got to know him and realized he didn't crave the throne of Atlantis.  All in all, I found the details of Aquaman's backstory really interesting.  I think this book serves to legitimize Aquaman as a serious superhero who can stand toe to toe with his costumed comrades in the DC universe and in that respect, it succeeds.  The Aquaman within these pages is a certified badass who is worthy of a higher place in the superhero social hierarchy.  I'm anxious to see where this story will go in the following volumes and I'd especially like to see Aquaman face one of his established foes, because I know so little about his rogue's gallery.  Overall, this is a great introduction to a long overlooked and ridiculed yet important member of the vast DC Universe.  I hope this is only the beginning of Aquaman's comic book revival.                    

DC's Three's Company and Lex Luthor too.

These three comic book titans will meet on the big screen. 

As much as I try to resist, everyday I find myself scouring the internet for news concerning the much talked about, much hyped Batman vs. Superman film, which has now been pushed back to May 2016.  Disappointed as I was to hear that, the optimist in me clings to the notion that they're delaying the release to give themselves plenty of time to do it faithfully in the eyes of fans who've waited their entire lives for Bats and Supes to meet on the big screen.  Each new announcement, either regarding the casting or the story, makes the film seem all the more complex and therefore more of a risk.  This film will either be the most colossal failure since the Titanic sank or it will defy expectations and be an unrivaled achievement in the land of comic book films.  As of now, most people seem to be betting heavily on the former and while part of me understands why this is so, I'm still holding out hope and holding back my judgment until we start to see the pieces coming together.  Nevertheless, I need to talk about some of the latest developments surrounding Batman vs. Superman, a title that I  hope will be changed soon. 

By now we know that Ben Affleck is playing an older, more seasoned Batman as compared to Cavill's younger Superman.  In an earlier post I stated that I was willing to give Affleck the benefit of the doubt  and as I've thought more about it, I now feel that Affleck might actually do a great job.  Of course no one can make a valid argument for or against until we actually see some footage or at least a glimpse of him in costume, but I feel optimistic that he's dedicated to portraying the Dark Knight in a faithful and memorable way.  After Affleck's casting and the ridiculous fan backlash it created, the next big casting news was the role of Wonder Woman going to a little known Israeli actress named Gal Gadot.  Fans had been speculating on whether or not Wonder Woman might show up or even be getting her own film, but the sudden announcement of her appearing in BVS came as quite a shock. 

I 've always liked Wonder Woman even though my initial familiarity with her came through the Justice League.  She's the most famous female Superhero and has endured for decades right alongside Superman and Batman.  If done right, I think a solo Wonder Woman film is a great idea, but I wasn't expecting her to show up in what's supposed to be a Man of Steel sequel and I was initially concerned.  However, it seems that her role will essentially be an extended cameo to serve as her introduction similar to Black Widow's background role in Iron Man 2.  This exposure will set the stage for her to return later down the road in a Justice League film.  Not being a Fast and Furious fan, I wasn't familiar with Gal, but given that she's little known, there has to be a valid reason for her casting that fans can't yet see.  The complaints about her being too skinny to play the legendary Amazon princess are pretty silly given what a serious workout can do to even the skinniest of people.  I'm not sure about her acting chops, but once again that doesn't mean she doesn't have any.  I'm more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.   

Will Eisenberg bring depth and dimensionality to the bald billionaire?

The most recent piece of casting news is the announcement that Jesse Eisenberg, most famous for his portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, will play Lex Luthor, whom fans imagined would be showing up in the sequel.  I was shocked when I heard the news, mostly because of how young Eisenberg looks, especially compared to Cavill.  Not that I wanted a much older Luthor like he appears in previous Superman films, but I hoped they'd cast someone to play a Luthor about five to ten years older than Superman.  In Smallville, Michael Rosenbaum's Lex seems to be about five years Superman's senior, which I feel is perfect.  I could've even seen Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex, but knew this wouldn't happen. 

Although I was surprised, I can't say that I'm angry or disappointed.  On the contrary, I think Eisenberg's a capable actor who's just beginning to show his potential to play diverse parts.  As with Gadot, Eisenberg must have been chosen because he brought elements to the table that screamed Lex.  Once again I defer to Heath Ledger as the Joker.  His portrayal is iconic now, but at the time of his casting he seemed the least likely to be able to pull it off given his film history at that point.  Eisenberg's been tackling more complex roles recently so there's no telling what he's capable of pulling off. 

It seems that Geoff Johns, DC's Chief Creative Officer and writer of Superman: Secret Origin, has come onboard as an executive producer of the film.  Given his familiarity and input on Superman characters such as Lex, I like to think he too saw something unique in Eisenberg's take on Luthor.  Rather than having an older, more out of touch Lex as he's been portrayed in the past, I imagine this Lex will be right at the start of his rise to power as Metropolis's self-described savior.  As we saw in MOS, the Lexcorp logo is all over the city, so it appears he's already building his empire just as Superman makes his appearance.  A brash, ambitious and tech savy Luthor with a hold over Metropolis would of course be threatened by an alien with godlike powers showing up in his city and causing so much damage.   

One of the points in Eisenberg's favor is that he's played a young billionaire with a cold and calculating determination and single-mindedness.  As to whether the real Zuckerberg is like that I'm not sure, but he sure came across like that in the film.  Obviously, Lex is not just cold but is downright malicious, cruel and determined to let nothing and no one stand in the way of his goals.  Like Zuckerberg however, this Lex should be incredibly innovative and brilliant in a way that justifies his incredible wealth and stature at such a young age.  He's the talk of the town until this mysterious Superman shows up, threatening Lex's dominion over Metropolis.  As I've mentioned, the US government is still very suspicious of Superman at the end of MOS and it stands to reason that they would turn to America's leading scientific mind, Lex Luthor, to find a way to take down the Man of Steel.  Whether Luthor will discover Kryptonite or utilize pieces of Kryptonian armor left behind in the battle is unclear, but these are only a few possible schemes he could concoct to take the alien down. 

I should also mention that Jeremy Irons has been cast as Alfred Pennyworth.  I don't have much to say about this because I'm not overly familiar with his work, but again I have no reason to believe he'll do a bad job.  Fans like myself are still waiting with baited breath to hear if we'll get another, super-powered villain joining the team.  I'd love to see a villain like Metallo or Brainiac team up with Lex like they so often do in the comics.  In order to keep this a true MOS sequel, which it should be, I think only Superman villains should be used for now.  We just saw some of Batman's key villains a few years ago, but we've yet to see any of Superman's beyond Lex and Zod.  I'd love to Superman battle Darkseid, but feel he's a villain best left for the Justice League film somewhere down the road.   
I know this film is a jumping off point for the eventual Justice League film, but I think they should use it to develop more elements of the Superman world first while also serving as an intro to Batman and Wonder Woman.  Zack Snyder and co. are taking a colossal gamble on this film, but since I have no actual proof that it'll be a trainwreck, I choose to be optimistic in regards to the casting choices.  So far I haven't been let down by The Dark Knight trilogy or Man of Steel and I have no real reason to feel let down yet.  Sure it seems messy now, like they're trying to jam too much into one film, but we have no idea how all these pieces will work together as a whole.  On their own these elements feel like cheap gimmicks, but who's to say how they'll come together in the finished film.  I for one am willing to have faith that they'll find a way to unite these legendary heroes on screen without forcing it and give us an epic, game changing film.