We still haven’t seen a whole lot of the first generation of superheroes in the DCEU, but Warner Bros. still has plans to dive into the wide DC comics universe and bring many legacy heroes to life soon. We Got This Covered has previously brought you the news that Wally West may appear in Ezra Miller’s The Flash, setting him up to replace Barry Allen down the line. Likewise, Nubia will be introduced as the second Wonder Woman at some point.
A similar situation is already being sketched out for Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, too. According to our sources – the same ones who told us Diana will get her golden eagle armor in Wonder Woman 1984, a Green Lantern series is coming to HBO Max and that Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis” – an endpoint for Arthur Curry’s career as the protector of the seas is in sight. It won’t be for a long while yet, but the King of Atlantis will apparently retire as a hero after Aquaman 3 and following that, he’ll go on to have more of a supporting role in the franchise.
The way it’ll go down, we’re told, is that Arthur will continue to serve as king but he’ll hand the role of Aquaman over to Kaldur’ahm AKA Aqualad. Kaldur will then be the new face of the franchise. Of course, this plotline is inspired by the recent Young Justice: Outsiders, the third season of the DC Universe animated series, in which the same switchover played out. And, as in The New 52 comics, Kaldur will be portrayed as openly gay, with sources saying the intention is to find an openly gay actor to play him.
Kaldur – also known as Jackson Hyde – was created for Young Justice before being folded into the comics. Though he’s the son of Black Manta, he’s loyal to Atlantis and his king and has always operated as a hero. Though he’s not the first Aqualad, the success of the show means that he’s the most popular version nowadays. If WB is already looking at how to extend the Aquaman brand beyond a trilogy of Momoa-starring movies, then, it makes sense to go with Kaldur as a replacement.
