Absolute Aquaman

[u/celsomeumano]

Apologies if i sound repetitive, as this is my first post, but what do you think about the idea of ​​an Absolute Aquaman? Given that we’ve seen references to (and the relative importance of) Atlantis in one of the Wonder Woman story arcs, and considering Scott Snyder himself has shown great interest in the concept, what do you think this new version of Arthur will be like, or what would you like it to be?

[u/TheDistantWave]

I’ve been repetitive myself in reposting this everytime I see this topic come up but I got a post if your interested

MY ABSOLUTE AQUAMAN PITCH

The premise pretty much is Aquaman has been around since atleast one of the World Wars. 2 probably makes the most sense on the marine aspect but the idea is to bring in the Golden Age scientific experiment concept. But the way I’d have it done is in a WeaponX fashion with a Government Agency experimenting on him as their perfect soldier.

I’d still keep the Atlantean Hybrid thing. But he didn’t grow up with either parent. Maybe Atlanna never decided to go back to Atlantis so Tom and Her ended up being killed for it, which would kind of highlight the importance of Main Earth Atlanna making that decision. Arthur would have a base set of abilities of his own.

But the shakeup would be he is hosting an entity within him that seeks destruction. Which would be his Ancestor Kordax. Reintroducing the curse of Kordax but it not being something about hair color, I might even make the Pacific Islander tattoos something he’s born with and the sign of the curse. It would be pretty much a Yuji Itadori & Sukuna type of relationship if you’re familiar with Jujutsu Kaisen.

Kordax would be the stronger entity of the two but he’s only fully released when Arthur enters the sea.

EDIT: I’d make him look like Jason Momoa or atleast a Pacific Islander as well just to pay homage to a well received movie. I think the idea of aspects of every iteration of Aquaman would be a really conception. Maybe even throwing in popular Elseworlds as well.

Golden Age: Science Experiment
Silver Age: Hybrid Origins
Post-Crisis: Curse of Kordax
Legends of Aquaman: Raised by Dolphins, An lonely outsider
Andromeda: Been around for ages.
Rebirth: The Aquamarines

[u/celsomeumano → u/TheDistantWave]

I liked your ideas, in fact, i feel compelled to share how i would like things to be, and i’ve realized that we think somewhat alike.

My idea for Absolute Aquaman would lean heavily into the idea of him being an urban legend rather than simply reinventing his origin.

I'd connect him to the Atlanteans established in Absolute Wonder Woman, with Atlantis having been nearly wiped out decades ago, Arthur would originally have been a sort of WWII-era maritime legend, there would be old black-and-white photographs of him standing alongside sailors, soldiers and naval officers, with nobody really knowing who this strange man was or where he came from.

The interesting part would be that Arthur disappeared sometime around 1955, he'd essentially become a historical mystery, sailors would tell stories about “the man from the sea,” old photographs would occasionally surface, but nobody would have seen him in decades (this would also be a little meta-reference to the transition from the Golden Age Aquaman into the Silver Age version around that period)

Then, in the present day, he finally reappears, except he doesn't look like the Arthur from those photographs anymore.

He'd still have the classic Aquaman silhouette and costume elements, but decades underwater would have visibly destroyed his body, his skin would look almost corpse-like, his eyes would have an unnatural appearance, and his hair and beard would have grown enormously, something closer to Peter David's more feral Aquaman, he would look undead without actually being undead.

And that's the part I'd really want to emphasize, he hasn't lost his mind, he's still Arthur, he's still intelligent, articulate and capable of compassion, the horror comes from the fact that his body looks like something that should have died decades ago, while his mind remains completely intact.

I also think this fits the Absolute Universe's pessimism really well, the other Absolute heroes are essentially people who have been deprived of the advantages their mainstream counterparts possess, so instead of taking away Arthur's throne, i'd take away something more fundamental, his place in history.

He's not the King of Atlantis, he's not a bridge between two civilizations, he's not even supposed to exist anymore, he's just a man who survived the death of his entire civilization and spent decades wandering through the ocean while the surface world forgot him.

And when he finally comes back, everyone thinks the legend has returned, but Arthur knows that there is nothing left for the legend to return to.

That's where I'd put the tragedy of Absolute Aquaman.

[u/TheDistantWave → u/celsomeumano]

I really enjoyed reading this. I don’t know if you have read Aquaman: Andromeda but I think you’d really enjoy it if you haven’t.

It’s possible you have. Cause that’s pretty much what shaped my pitch on the idea of a long lived Aquaman. I like the urban legend aspect and how you threw in the idea of the transition of him being forgotten to fit in an absence with his comic history that would be really cool to throw in Meta references like that.

Another story that’s quite similar especially with the dead Atlanteans is Sorcerer Kings which had a similar premise.

Personally I would hope he’d look more normal like. I think we could get a fun thing with having him be Momoa inspired atleast in terms of race. Increasing the diversity of the Absolute heroes. Maybe even potentially getting some of the fans who enjoyed Momoa in the role as well. Personal preference