I.IV AQUAMAN
AQUAMAN (2011)
Jim Lee, DC Comics ©
Logline
After learning of his true heritage, Arthur Curry journeys to the underwater city of Atlantis to confront his past and prevent a war with the surface world.
Source Material
Adventures Comics #260
Plot Summary
During a time of civil unrest, Queen Atlanna is forced to abandon her newborn son on Mercy Reef when her husband King Orvax, an Atlantean tyrant, discovers that the child is not his own. Atlanna’s confidante Nuidis Vulko ensures the child’s safety, delivering him to his birth father, a lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry. Curry raises his son, naming him Arthur, on the shores of Amnesty Bay. As he matures he begins to develop marine abilities, such as underwater breathing and marine telepathy. When he comes of age, his father reveals his true heritage as half-human, half-atlantean and bestows to him a trident, left for him by his mother.
Arthur enters the ocean, trident in hand, intent on journeying to the underwater city of Atlantis to find his mother. As he ventures further into the depths of the sea, Arthur is attacked by Atlantean guards. They seize the trident and escort him to Atlantis where he's imprisoned for its theft. Arthur is imprisoned alongside a woman, also from the surface world, named Finn.
After hearing of the seizing of the trident and Arthur’s subsequent imprisonment, Vulko informs Atlanna of her son’s return. Atlanna goes to visit him in his cell. She introduces herself as his mother and apologises for abandoning him when he was child. She explains the turmoil Atlantis was in during King Orvax's rule and how Orvax has now passed and his son, Orm, is next in line for the throne and under his rule, Atlantis will continue to suffer.
Atlanna tries to convince Arthur to take up the throne of Atlantis himself, as being her son, he's the only one who can legitimately challenge Orm. Arthur is hesitant, but after learning that Orm plans to wage war against the surface world, he agrees. Atlanna frees Arthur from his cell and re-arms him with his trident. Vulko escorts Arthur to Themyscira where Atlanna has arranged for him be trained by the Amazons. If he's to challenge Orm for the throne, he's going to need to be able to face him in combat.
Later, Finn is interrogated by Kalandro, Orm's advisor, about the man she was imprisoned with and how he escaped. After being threatened Finn reveals that the woman who helped him escape was his mother. Orm comes to the realisation that the rumours are true, his mother had another child in secret and he's returned to Atlantis. Atlanna is summoned by Orm who accuses her of undermining his rule and conspiring to have him usurped. Atlanna denies it but Orm begins to torture Finn in front of her and she relents, admitting that Orm has a younger brother, Arthur.
Arthur and Vulko arrive in Themyscira and are greeted by Diana Prince alongside several Amazons. There's clear tension with their arrival. It was only several years ago that Atlantis and Themyscira were engulfed in a war under Orvax's rule. When Vulko mentions Atlanna by name the tension easies. Diana's mother, Hippolyta, assured her that Atlanna is an ally to the Amazons and her word can be trusted. Arthur begins training under Diana's tutelage. He shows natural talent wielding the trident and learns quickly and efficiently.
Vulko returns to Atlantis to find Atlanna imprisoned alongside Finn, awaiting trial. Vulko manages to subdue an Atlantean guard, allowing him to escape imprisonment himself. He returns to Themyscira to warn Arthur. In their cell, Atlanna questions Finn about where she's from, as she isn't native to Atlantis. Finn reveals that when she was younger, she was abducted and experimented on. These experiments resulted in her gaining marine abilities, such as being able to breathe underwater. She wandered the oceans until she found Atlantis. She was soon imprisoned for stealing food to feed herself.
Atlanna tells Finn about her first-born son, Orm Marius, and how his father, the tyrant king Orvax raised him. She talks about how his father's influence corrupted him, which led to him becoming power hungry and forever seeking his father's approval, which he never got, and that anger still fuels him today.
Vulko arrives in Themyscira to inform Arthur of his mother's imprisonment and Orm's imminent ascension to the throne. Arthur's training is cut short as he prepares to leave with Vulko. Arthur thanks Diana for training him, and though he won't be besting her in battle anytime soon, he may stand a chance against Orm.
Arthur and Vulko return to Atlantis amid Atlanna's trial, in which Kalandro has spun a web of lies about her conspiring to usurp the throne from Orm. Vulko soon dissipates Kalandro's claims and reveals that Arthur is Queen Atlanna's second-born, and therefore has a right to challenge Orm for the throne. Orm is outraged at Arthur's arrival and disputes his claim. Arthur, seeing Orm seething with anger, is able to goad him into a trial by combat.
The two brothers prepare for combat, donning royal Atlantean armour. Arthur wields the trident gifted to him by his mother, whilst Orm wields the trident he inherited from his father. Orm is formidable in combat, however thanks to Diana's training Arthur adequately defends himself. Using the tactics and techniques Diana taught him, Arthur is able to gain the upperhand and subdue Orm.
Arthur spares Orm's life, imprisoning him in the very cell that he was held in. Kalandro is imprisoned alongside him. Soon after, Arthur is crowned King of Atlantis with Atlanna and Vulko by his side. The pair serve as Arthur's council as he learns to rule. He and Atlanna try to convince Finn to stay but she longs to return to the surface. Atlanna tells her she'll always have a place in Atlantis.
Post Credits
Atlanna arrives on Themyscira to broker a treaty between the nations, uniting Atlantis and Themyscira as allies once more.
Cast
Chris Hemsworth (Thor) … Arthur Curry aka Aquaman
Karl Urban (Thor: Ragnorok) … Orm Marius
Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange) … Queen Atlanna
Forest Whittaker (Black Panther) … Nuidis Vulko
Jaimie Alexander (Thor) … Diana Prince
Kate Mara (Iron Man 2) … Artemis
Emily VanCamp (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) … Finn
Thomas Kretchsmann (Avengers: Age of Ultron) … Tom Curry
Neal McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger) … King Orvax
Maximiliano Hernández (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) … Kalandro
