Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom fans want Arthur to bring something with him from comics

The long-awaited Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer has fans calling out for the hero to receive his hook hand, one of the more iconic (and notorious) changes the character underwent in the ’90s.

With just three months until its theatrical release, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is finally getting some promotion. A short teaser released on September 10 showed the first new footage for the film in nearly a year and confirmed a full trailer for September 14. 

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has had a long, embattled filming. Reports of multiple reshoots, multiple cuts, and a notably quiet promotional period have led many to believe the film to be in trouble. 

Nonetheless, fans are hyped now that a trailer is on the horizon. For many longtime fans of Aquaman, the opportunity to bring a classic and controversial piece of Aquaman’s past to the big screen is too good to pass up. 

DC fans call for Arthur’s hook hand to appear in Aquaman 2

With the many fights seen in the trailers and the perceived darker tone of Black Manta’s quest for vengeance, fans are calling for Aquaman to get his iconic hook hand in the film. 

The hook (or, more specifically, harpoon) hand is a conceit of the darker, grittier ‘90s era of DC Comics and was an attempt to freshen up the character following the Zero Hour event. In 1994’s Aquaman #2, the villain Charybdis fights Aquaman by a river full of piranhas. Charybdis forces Aquaman’s hand into the water, where they eat his hand to the bone. 

Unable to repair the hand, Aquaman instead replaces it with a harpoon. He would later replace it with a mechanical prosthesis and the mystical water-bearer hand he received from the Lady of the Lake, which he wore until his death. His hand would ultimately be restored when he was brought back to life following Blackest Night. 

Aquaman’s hook hand was so persistent it even made its way to an animated adaptation – albeit in a much grislier sense. His debut in the Justice League season 1 story, The Enemy Below, sees Aquaman shackled to the ocean floor, watching his infant son facing imminent death. Only able to free one arm, Aquaman cuts off his own hand in order to save his son, replacing it with the familiar prosthetic hook for the remainder of Justice League. 

For longtime fans, the hook represented a bold new era. Aquaman also ditched his classic orange scale mail shirt and grew out his hair and beard. The era is viewed as formational in the period where Aquaman went from being the joke of the Justice League to the mighty King of Atlantis, a depiction which persists today. 

For others, though, it was a bit of a joke. Aquaman had for years been “the guy who talked to fish,” so attempts at making him edgier were an uphill battle for DC. It didn’t help that this was running after or alongside other similar “edgy” makeovers, including Hal Jordan becoming the evil Parallax, Batman being replaced by the violent Azrael during the Knightfall arc, and Wonder Woman losing her title to Artemis.

Whether or not the hook will actually make a return in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom remains to be seen, but the upcoming trailer could shine some light on the future of Arthur’s appendages. 

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