Aquaman truly brought the King of the Seven Seas back to his comic book glory. Therefore, the movie was full of Easter eggs, references, and source nods. However, if you were too busy staring at Aquaman’s abs, then I’ve got your back. Check out everything that you missed in Aquaman.
Queen Atlanna Has a Mother Box
It seems as though James Wan wanted to distance himself from Justice League and the entire DC franchise. However, if you looked hard enough, you might have noticed his cute little nod to the previous DC film.
Queen Atlanna has a mother box in the Curry’s lighthouse home. It’s sitting on the coffee table, right next to a photo of the Curry’s.
Although it’s made out of seashells and not an actual mother box, the Easter egg does show that Atlanna knew what these devices were.
Annabelle Lurking in the Water
James Wan is a legendary horror director who produced some of the greatest. One of his previous films was The Conjuring and therefore, you can find a familiar creepy doll lurking around in Aquaman.
As Mera and Aquaman jump into Mera’s underwater spaceship and head to Atlantis, you’ll find Annabelle floating in the waters – waiting for her next victim.
James Wan has even joked about this Easter Egg in interviews and threw out a crazy fan theory. Since Patrick Wilson was also in The Conjuring, maybe he’s in Aquaman playing Ed Warren pretending to be Orm.
Amnesty Bay is Not in Maine
The movie opens up in Amnesty Bay, Maine. However, if you’re a fan of the comics, you’ll know that Amnesty Bay is actually in Massachusetts. For some reason, Wan changed the location to Maine. However, he left a small nod to the comics by having young Aquaman visit the Boston Aquarium for his field trip.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Aquaman’s narration during the opening scene of the movie may have sounded familiar to you, and it’s because it was pulled straight from a quote by Jules Verne, the author of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. The quote reads, “put two ships in the ocean sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together.”
The Cthulhu Lives in the Waters of Atlantis
Tom Curry’s lighthouse home is full of little trinkets and oddities. However, if you look past all the nautical nonsense, you’ll find that there is a copy of H.P. Lovecraft’s book, The Dunwich Horror underneath a snow globe of the lighthouse.
This book was set in a fictional town in Massachusetts and is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Cthulhu, if you don’t know, is an octopus-like monster that lives in an underworld city, much like Atlantis.
The Stingray TV Series
During Atlanna’s first night in her new home, she attacks the television with her trident. However, before the television is attacked, you might have seen what was playing on the screen: Stingray.
The TV show which aired in the 1960s has a lot of similarities to Aquaman, complete with underwater exploration and civilizations.
Green Lantern Makes His Debut?
Everyone was extremely disappointed when Hal Jordan failed to make an appearance in Justice League. However, Aquaman may have teased his arrival in the future.
During the end-credit scene, we see Dr. Stephen Shin messing with Black Manta’s Atlantean suit. However, if you look at the newspaper clippings on the wall, you might see one that references Coast City, the home of Hal Jordan.
So, could we see the Green Lantern join the Justice League sometime soon?
The Link Between Pacific Rim and Aquaman
When Aquaman attempts to take King Atlan’s Trident, he comes face to face with the Karathen. If you thought the monster looked familiar, its probably because you’ve seen Pacific Rim. The monster was inspired by the Kaiju monsters in the film.
The Drumming Octopus
In the leadup to the Ring of Fire, you might have seen an octopus playing the drums. This clearly wasn’t just any ordinary octopus, but was actually Aquaman’s friend Topo from the comics.
James Wan has even confirmed his cameo and said, “my inspiration came from the comic books, and I went as far back as the Silver Age. And one of the characters I love from the Silver Age is Topo! I loved this character so much that I kept him around more as a cameo, like an Easter egg. But Topo is someone that I love and in my version, he’s this ancient sea creature who beats these giant drums”.
The Fast and Furious Reference
James Wan didn’t only allude to his horror films, but he also gave a shoutout to his work on the Fast and the Furious series. When Mera and Aquaman head to the desert, the music that plays as they wade out of the water is a remix of Toto’s “Africa”.
“Pitbull wrote a song just for us and it ended up in the movie. It’s almost like, I know it seems to some a little bit weird, but it’s almost like my little tribute to my Fast & Furious background,” said James Wan. “Having made a Fast & Furious movie, it was kind of fun to see the characters come out of the water in slow motion with this hip-hop music in the background. It was just a fun little break from the more intense stuff that had been going on leading up to that.”
The Pilot Survived Saw
James Wan started his career directing legendary horror film, Saw. The horror movie was written by Leigh Whannell, who also starred in the film as Adam, and can be seen as the pilot that takes Aquaman and Mera to the deserts of the Sahara.
I’m Going to Need A Bigger Helmet
After Black Manta attempts to integrate the Atlantean technology into his helmet, he says. “I think I’m gonna need a bigger helmet”. This line is a direct reference to another water-filled movie, Jaws. However, the line in Jaws is “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”.
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Did you catch any other Easter eggs or references? Post what you found in the comments!