Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What makes a villain? Must s/he always necessarily be a direct threat? What about innocents? What about those s/he loves? We saw this play out onscreen.
With regard to a conversation between Mera and Arthur:
Spoiler
I believe we get some foreshadowing when Arthur expresses his regret over leaving Jesse Kane, i.e. David Kane's (Manta) father, to die in the sub rescue. Jesse had just attempted to kill Arthur with a rocket, which made the latter take a quick time-out, burnwise.
That said, sometimes we do see villains do things that aren't defined by a power set. Everyone applauded Nemo in Civil War for being a regular guy who pitted various Avengers against each other without directly confronting them.
Additionally, as you mentioned, Manta's suit is Atlantean tech. Did you watch the movie? If not, consider two things:
Spoiler
Atlantean steel can cut an Atlantean, while terran steel cannot. Manta's arm blade is Atlantean steel, and he even says so.
The Atlantean plasma rifles, which Manta modified for his helmet to fire plasma beams, are extremely dangerous to an Atlantean, and can seriously burn, maim and kill. Arthur didn't really win that battle with Manta in the movie. Manta's suit malfunctioned and that's what took him out of the game.
David Kane's seething hatred is his motivator.
I think you missed my point. Did you see the parts in the movie where there were battles going on and Atlantean tech was used in combat against other Atlantean tech and other undersea combat technologies? In a lot of cases, we saw soldiers doing sword-and-shield tactics, two-on-one, three-on-one. There were numerous instances of Atlantean combat. You must have noticed it.
Spoiler
That pits Black Manta with his one patched-up Atlantean tech suit against the entire Atlantis Department of War which is sworn to protect their king.
No, I didn't miss your point. You were wondering how a guy like Black Manta could be a threat to Aquaman. I gave you some possibilities.
'Sides, nobody said Manta could take on the "entire Atlantean army." Even Manta would laugh at the notion. In response to a question in Hall H, when people were treated to the first super-secret Aquaman footage, Jason Momoa said "those armies" were Ocean Master's, that Black Manta didn't have that kind of firepower.
Spoiler
The fact is, in a one-on-one situation, especially above water, Black Manta can do some damage. And that's exactly what we saw happen in the movie. He also had help from some of Orm's grunts. I'm sure there are still some warriors that are loyal to Orm. His next step will probably be to strike some sort of allegiance and get more tech to fix his suit.
No, I didn't miss your point. You were wondering how a guy like Black Manta could be a threat to Aquaman. I gave you some possibilities.
'Sides, nobody said Manta could take on the "entire Atlantean army." Even Manta would laugh at the notion. In response to a question in Hall H, when people were treated to the first super-secret Aquaman footage, Jason Momoa said "those armies" were Ocean Master's, that Black Manta didn't have that kind of firepower.
Spoiler
The fact is, in a one-on-one situation, especially above water, Black Manta can do some damage. And that's exactly what we saw happen in the movie. He also had help from some of Orm's grunts. I'm sure there are still some warriors that are loyal to Orm. His next step will probably be to strike some sort of allegiance and get more tech to fix his suit.
Realistically, it would be silly for there to be a one-on-one situation.
Spoiler
Saddam challenged George Bush to a winner-take-all one-on-one personal combat match.
Instead, Bush sent in the military to bomb his azz and hunt him down.
Realistically, the king of Atlantis ought to do the same.
When did Manta IM/text/candygram Arthur to "show up for battle?
Manta did it the right way: attacked without warning. And as you know, he nearly cooked Arthur's goose since our titular hero was also busy trying to remove innocents from the line of fire.
We're not talking about warring nations and diplomacy and all that jazz. We're talking about CBMs and what villains should/would do. Saddam and George...seriously? LMFAO!
Did Joker give Batman a chance to save both Harvey and Rachel? He said he did...but he really didn't.
Dude, did Santa bring you a new post-hole digger to move those goalposts?
I am not here to knock Aquaman...I'm sure it is ME....I'm not a guy or boy...
I loved his character...loved his dad and mom...these were "real"....the bar seen, heart warming
and funny.
Burning hatred for a half-brother that was an innocent, not for me.
All the thousands of scary water dragons...not for me...fake red wigs? Not for me.
But, neither is Godzilla for me...so, there you have it. (And it was way too long...)FOR ME!
The 3 story statues underwater, wow...the piles of ocean garbage we have put in it...wow.
And him? What a hunk! Many great Techno things about the movie.
So happy that Aquaman has become such a big hit, and despite not getting Wonder-Woman-strong reviews (although Aquaman's reviews are not Batman-V-Superman-weak either), it is certainly become a well-regarded holiday event. Now, who would have imagined that it would be Wonder Woman and Aquaman (not Batman ans Superman) the characters that would pump new life into the DCEU's barely-alive body?
captain america
the incredibles
iron man
the iron giant
Nothing in any of those films comes even close to the emotional potency of the No Man's Land scene in Wonder Woman. And it's evident by the fact that no scene in any of those films has become instantly iconic like NML.
Nothing in any of those films comes even close to the emotional potency of the No Man's Land scene in Wonder Woman. And it's evident by the fact that no scene in any of those films has become instantly iconic like NML.
I don't want to downplay the NML scene in Wonder Woman. It is indeed a great scene and worthy of praise. But other movies have had their moments too.
In THE INCREDIBLES when the family is fighting in the jungle and finally come together and --- just for an instant --- do the iconic superhero team pose … when I saw that in the theater, people stood up and cheered.
And right before the robot sacrifices himself in THE IRON GIANT, he leans back and says, "Super man!" There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Granted, there were only eight other people in the theater because the studio utterly failed to market that movie, but still … it's a classic moment.
I don't want to downplay the NML scene in Wonder Woman. It is indeed a great scene and worthy of praise. But other movies have had their moments too.
In THE INCREDIBLES when the family is fighting in the jungle and finally come together and --- just for an instant --- do the iconic superhero team pose … when I saw that in the theater, people stood up and cheered.
And right before the robot sacrifices himself in THE IRON GIANT, he leans back and says, "Super man!" There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Granted, there were only eight other people in the theater because the studio utterly failed to market that movie, but still … it's a classic moment.
I agree with both of those as great moments the films had justly earned.
But I didn't feel anything like that in Aquaman.
Again, it was very intertaining, it just didn't quite pluck the strings of my heart and make me want to be a better man.
But very few movies do (although Pixar does it pretty consistently), and so far none of the Disney/Marvel movies have done that for me. The only DC movie that has done it has been Wonder Woman.
And whoever owns Iron Giant needs to re-release it for today's audience as though it were a brand new film.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
