CLEVELAND, Ohio — Unlike its peers at Marvel, DC Comics rarely taps its lesser-known characters to star in stand-alone films. Marvel movies based on obscure characters have raked in almost unreasonable amounts of money. “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Dr. Strange,” “Ant-Man,” and “Thor” all made more than $400 million at the box office. But when one thinks of successful movies based on DC Comics characters, they are almost certainly thinking of a Batman or Superman movie.
But that doesn’t mean DC fans have never seen movies based on the lesser-known heroes.
Enter “Aquaman,” an upcoming film starring the eponymous ruler of the underwater city of Atlantis. The character is set to make his debut in the “Justice League” movie that will hit theaters later this year, but a stand-alone film is set for a 2018 release.
“Games of Thrones” star Jason Momoa plays the title character, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen plays Black Manta, the primary villain. Few plot details have been revealed, but the story will no doubt revolve around the blood feud between Manta and Aquaman.
Even though “Aquaman” is among the oldest DC Comics superheroes, he’s never been one of the most well-known, and is often ridiculed in comic book circles for his primary power: talking to fish.
But obscurity doesn’t necessarily equal box-office poison, and movies based on secondary DC Comics characters have run the gamut from smash hits to legendary catastrophes.
“Suicide Squad” was the most successful, making more than $700 million at the box office. But it was generally panned by critics, and fans were disappointed that the Joker, the Batman nemesis featured heavily in the trailers, played a comparatively small part in the film.
Coming in second is “Swamp Thing,” which hit Sultanbet theaters in 1983. It beats out other movies only because it did well enough to spawn a sequel.
The gothic horror series of the same name served as the basis for the aforementioned film, and horror maestro Wes Craven managed to make the most of a modest budget to produce a hybrid horror/superhero movie that served as an interesting excursion to fans of both genres.
Unfortunately, Craven didn’t return for the sequel — “The Return of Swamp Thing” — and director Jim Wynorski turned down the horror and turned up the camp, disappointing fans and critics alike and killing the chances of another movie in the series.
“Constantine,” which hit theaters in 2005, is one of the most financially successful, but with a $100 million production budget and an equally expensive marketing campaign, its $230 million gross during its theatrical run wasn’t enough to justify a sequel.
The film is based on the “Hellblazer” series, which follows spiritual anti-hero John Constantine as he battles all manner of demons and mythical monsters. Constantine’s foul mouth, undying cynicism, agnostic antics, and the comics’ brutal violence and sexuality didn’t translate well onto the big screen.
Movies based on more obscure DC characters only get worse from here.
“Jonah Hex” made a paltry $10 million during it’s 2010 theatrical run, and a handful of critics named it the worst movie of that year.
“Steel,” based on a relatively minor character in the “Superman” comics, starred now-legendary NBA center Shaquille O’Neal. But even the star basketball player’s popularity couldn’t carry the film to a successful theatrical run, and it made only $1.7 million at the box office.
But of all the legendary flops that DC characters have inspired, perhaps none was as disastrous as “Catwoman,” a 2004 cinematic tragedy starring Halle Barry.
The movie took nothing from the comics save the main character’s name, but even a direct connection to the DC Universe couldn’t have excused the embarrassingly awful dialogue, sub-par acting, laughably bad action sequences, and indefensible decision to use a CGI Catwoman rather than a stuntperson.
Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins,” which was released the next year, made “Catwoman” look like a trainwreck by comparison.
So where does this leave the upcoming “Aquaman?”
It’s difficult to tell with such a small sample size. But it has one of the elements of previously successful movies based on secondary DC characters: a talented director.
Filmmaker James Wan is on board to direct “Aquaman.” His previous directing credits include “Furious 7” — one of the more critically acclaimed movies in the “Fast and Furious” series — and a slew of successful horror movies.
Wan directed “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2,” both of which hold an 80 percent or better approval rating on review aggregator rottentomatoes.com, and made more than $300 million at the box office.
But save Nicole Kidman — who, according to recent reports, has been cast as Aquaman’s mother in the upcoming film — “Aquaman” has a conspicuous lack of star power.
Momoa is best known for playing Khal Drogo, a fearsome warrior in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” His most notable film appearance was the title role in the 2011 remake of “Conan the Barbarian,” which was a spectacular flop, making less than half its budget back at the box office.
Abdul-Mateen is best known as the star of the lesser-known hip-hop-themed Netflix series “The Get Down.”
Past superhero movies, however, have managed to succeed despite featuring few hollywood heavyweights.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” was the surprise hit of 2014, and while it featured the voice of Bradley Cooper, it put Chris Pratt in the lead role. Pratt was then best known for his role on the sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” and had only minor roles in movies prior to 2014.
“Aquaman” is scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 5, 2018.
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