Do people no longer think of Aquaman as a joke?

[dreyga2000]

Back in the day, growing up everyone used to make fun of Aquaman. They used laugh at how he talked to fish. And they always made jokes about how easily they he would get beat up on land.

Now all of sudden I feel like the world takes Aquaman seriously. All the cheap laughs have died off.

Is it just me or do you feel Arthur (or Orin) finally has got himself some street cred?


aquaman.jpg

[Vordan]

Having Jason Maoma play the role was a huge help in changing pop culture perception. Add on a billion dollar film and yeah, no one is mocking Aquaman anymore.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Honestly, I don't think Aquaman has stopped being a punchline to anyone, but casting Mamoa helped lean into the character's innate goofiness and let him have fun with Aquaman rather than try to pretend the character isn't very, very silly. This isn't to say that Aquaman can't be completely badass, but Mamoa's decidedly more dudebro take on the character, along with the equally fun Brave & Bold characterization, repositioned Aquaman away from the dark "dead baby" cloud that's hung over him for decades, preventing the character from doing much more than mope, glower, and brood in the comics.

In other words, Aquaman is still a joke, but he's in on the joke now and that big dumb fun just made a billion dollars.

[Robanker]

Continuing what Bored at 3:00AM commented, Mamoa helped turn the public perception around to someone fun if not intelligent who can kick a lot of ass. This isn't to discredit the work stuff like the comics (since Johns) and his guest appearances on Batman: The Brave and the Bold did for Arthur, but Momoa's portrayal certainly was the last push he really needed to push that boulder up the mountain.

His foot's in the door to relevancy again, essentially. It's the second film that will show if Arthur's got legs.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Honestly, I don't think Aquaman has stopped being a punchline to anyone, but casting Mamoa helped lean into the character's innate goofiness and let him have fun with Aquaman rather than try to pretend the character isn't very, very silly. This isn't to say that Aquaman can't be completely badass, but Mamoa's decidedly more dudebro take on the character, along with the equally fun Brave & Bold characterization, repositioned Aquaman away from the dark "dead baby" cloud that's hung over him for decades, preventing the character from doing much more than mope, glower, and brood in the comics.

In other words, Aquaman is still a joke, but he's in on the joke now and that big dumb fun just made a billion dollars.

Continuing what Bored at 3:00AM commented, Mamoa helped turn the public perception around to someone fun if not intelligent who can kick a lot of ass. This isn't to discredit the work stuff like the comics (since Johns) and his guest appearances on Batman: The Brave and the Bold did for Arthur, but Momoa's portrayal certainly was the last push he really needed to push that boulder up the mountain.

His foot's in the door to relevancy again, essentially. It's the second film that will show if Arthur's got legs.

eh i think this is underselling how far he's come considerably. There is a difference between being seen as a goofy character vs being seen as a pop culture gag. For example, most people respect Batman and Spiderman, but even they aren't above being parodied or joked about. Currently I don't think Aquaman is any worse off than Thor, Hulk or Ant Man. Everyone knows these characters are goofy but they are still mostly respected where it counts. If anything its Green Lantern who is seen as a gag nowadays, not many respect him anymore.

[Lee Stone]

What's funny is that all the characters in the cartoons back then couldn't punch villains.
Batman and Wonder Woman lucked out because they had batarangs, ropes and lassos to subdue villains, while Superman could make anything into a cage or lift them up and hang them on telephone poles.

Aquaman was probably just used in Superfriends because audiences knew him from his previous solo cartoon. A cartoon which kept him in the water pretty much all the time.
On land, however, he had no way to subdue villains without punching them. He couldn't just throw jellyfish at them or trap them in a giant clam in the middle of Central Park.

So the writers would contrive instances where Aquaman could be near water and call on the fish to be his Batarang or Magic Lasso.
Unfortunately, the writers didn't realize that since the fish aren't considered part of Aquaman, like Batman's Batarangs or Wonder Woman's lasso are to them, it made him look weak in comparison to the other heroes.

[Robotman]

The old Super Friends version of Aquaman will always be a punchline, but then again there are a ton of old Superman and Batman comics and mainstream appearances that can easily be the butt of a joke. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman has done some amazing things for the public’s perception of the character and Johns’ New 52 run showed comics fans just how awesome of a character he can be. I think most people currently see Aquaman as a cool sex symbol. Gen Xers will probably still make jokes but young people today don’t think of the weak “guy who talks to fish” when they think of Aquaman. That right there is a huge win.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

eh i think this is underselling how far he's come considerably. There is a difference between being seen as a goofy character vs being seen as a pop culture gag. For example, most people respect Batman and Spiderman, but even they aren't above being parodied or joked about. Currently I don't think Aquaman is any worse off than Thor, Hulk or Ant Man. Everyone knows these characters are goofy but they are still mostly respected where it counts. If anything its Green Lantern who is seen as a gag nowadays, not many respect him anymore.

I don't think I'm underselling anything. Aquaman made a billion dollars, but that doesn't mean that he's a now considered serious character by the general public. Like Thor, audiences love him, but they love him because he's a hot loveable doofus who whups ass.

As for Green Lantern, yup, he's now taken Aquaman's place as the go-to superhero for an easy punchline. And, frankly, as much as I love Hal Jordan, I totally get it. The character is named after a lamp and creates giant glowing objects. That's as easy to mock as a guy who talks to fish and rides a giant seahorse or a guy who flies around in a bright red cape with his underwear outside his pants who no one can recognize with his glasses on...or a billionaire who dresses up as a bat with an underage boy in short-shorts and a yellow cape.

However, as Aquaman proved, any superhero is one good movie or TV show away from being cool again. That does not, however, mean they've stopped being ridiculous.

[Username taken]

Having Jason Maoma play the role was a huge help in changing pop culture perception. Add on a billion dollar film and yeah, no one is mocking Aquaman anymore.

I agree with this.

Nowadays, the character is more associated with Momoa. But you still have some older people that still associate Arthur with Superfriends and see him as a joke.

[Rightoya]

In my experience see younger people Aquman collectively not as a joke, but some older people still do.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

In my experience see younger people Aquman collectively not as a joke, but some older people still do.

Absolutely. My students love Aquaman. They also adore Batman '66 or, as they refer to him "Happy Batman".

[The Darknight Detective]

The old Super Friends version of Aquaman will always be a punchline, but then again there are a ton of old Superman and Batman comics and mainstream appearances that can easily be the butt of a joke.

People forget that Batman, outside of the comics world, was considered a joke due to the TV show. In fact, he was far more of a punchline than Arthur ever was during the Super Friends era. It was only after being redeemed by Tim Burton and the DCAU that mainstream perceptions changed. Still, some of the Adam West era still clings to Bruce and I suspect Super Friends Aquaman will do the same thing for the DCEU one.

[Flash Gordon]

Nah, people don't think of Aquaman as a joke anymore. At least not mainstream popular culture. He's a big action underwater cowboy with a lot of interesting thematic weight to him and his role. For a big colourful action movie, there's a lot to chew on in AQUAMAN. Great stuff. It made a bill-y too, so people seemed to enjoy themselves.

In the comics he's consistently been a big league champion since 2011. His book has been rock solid quality for a decade, too (which is quite an accomplishment in mainstream comics).

Maybe in small circles of the "strictly superhero fandom" (and in the older crowd) he's seen as a joke, but that's a such a small segment of the audience.

I'd say in 2020 a more eco focused hero and mensch of the people reads really well.

[The Darknight Detective]

Maybe in small circles of the "strictly superhero fandom" (and in the older crowd) he's seen as a joke, but that's a small segment of the audience.

As a member in good standing of the older crowd , I can't recall anybody saying anything negative about Aquaman when I was younger. I only started hearing the jokes in this century, FWIW.

[Digifiend]

People forget that Batman, outside of the comics world, was considered a joke due to the TV show. In fact, he was far more of a punchline than Arthur ever was during the Super Friends era. It was only after being redeemed by Tim Burton and the DCAU that mainstream perceptions changed. Still, some of the Adam West era still clings to Bruce and I suspect Super Friends Aquaman will do the same thing for the DCEU one.

They actually poked fun at that during Fandome, using redubbed clips from Batman Beyond and Batman '66, mocking how Joker in the 1966 series would throw fish at people, instead of being a psychotic murderer.