Spoilers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1!DC Comics is connecting the dots between the first Aquaman movie and its sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, in theaters December 22. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1 features three stories setting up all the characters featured in the trailers: Aquaman, Mera, Atlanna, Black Manta, and Orm. However, the Aquaman-focused story may give fans a clue of something unexpected set to occur in the film.
“Changing Tides” – from the creative team of Tim Seeley, Miguel Mendonça, Andrew Dalhouse, and Wes Abbott – pits Aquaman against longtime foe Charybdis.
The villain’s most infamous act was removing Aquaman’s left hand, which led to Arthur replacing it with a harpoon hook. Lost Kingdom Special #1 contains a few indications that a version of this scene may play out in the film.
Charybdis’ Appearance Suggests “Lost Kingdom” Will Adapt A Classic Aquaman Storyline
Aquaman’s harpoon was an iconic look that he maintained through both the comics and animated series of the 1990s and 2000s. In what remains one of the most jawdropping moments in Aquaman lore, the metahuman Charybdis – who possessed the ability to steal others’ powers – took Arthur’s ability to speak to sea life, then forced his hand into a pool of piranha, leaving Aquaman’s left hand eaten down to the bone. Subsequently, Arthur cut the hand off completely and replaced it with something more seaworthy. Despite existing for almost thirty years, Charybdis is still best known for this singular moment.
Hook imagery is strong in the art throughout the “Changing Tides” story. As Charybdis crawls to a trash-littered beach after being injured by the Meta Bomb, a sharp hook sits ominously in the foreground. Charybdis is not known for using weapons; he has super strength and durability, and even in this comic is shown ripping the doors off of an armored military vehicle. And yet, he has a large hooked weapon in hand when he greets the soldiers and fights Aquaman. Then, in an echo of his most famous move, he pushes Arthur’s left hand into a boiling-hot underwater steam vent.
“Changing Tides” Hooks Readers Heading Into “Lost Kingdom”
By the end of their fight, Charybdis has run away, racked with newfound guilt about the death of Scylla, leaving Aquaman’s hand is a little burned, but otherwise fine. It seems unlikely that DC and the creative team behind Aquaman, on screen and on the page, would make this reference without being prepared to go further. Lost Kingdom Special #1 has led fans to speculate that Charybdis will have a larger role in the film that previously expected, and that some version of his iconic mangling of Arthur Curry’s hand will take place during the course of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, radically the DCEU incarnation of Aquaman.
While the trailers show off Black Manta as the central antagonist of the film, Game of Thrones actor Pilou Asbæk’s role in the movie is still uncredited. If Manta is out to destroy Arthur’s life and family, another villain who wants his own revenge, for the death of his wife, would be a perfect accomplice. Nothing would metaphorically show the danger Aquaman’s family is in like a villain who will destroy his left hand, where his new wedding ring sits. Further, nothing would be more badass than Jason Momoa’s Aquaman defeating Charybdis, then making a new hand from that man’s hook weapon.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1 is out now from DC Comics.
