Karshon In Aquaman 2 Is A Major Downgrade From The DC Comics

DC Comics fans may have found another gripe with the DCEU’s final movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, thanks to one major downgrade in the form of Karshon, a character who was changed to be practically unrecognizable. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom recently started streaming on Max, bringing the DCEU’s final movie to the streaming public. While this allows people to comb through scenes in search of Easter eggs and subtle references, the major change to Karshon was tough to miss.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom continues Arthur Curry’s DCEU journey as he wrestles with a double life as the King of Atlantis beneath the waves and life as a new dad on the surface. The division of Aquaman’s time, combined with the open secret that he would rather not be the King of Atlantis, is what puts him in the firing line of one member of the Council of Atlantis in particular: Karshon. Aquaman’s difficult relationship with this council member is conveyed quite early on and poses some stark differences to her comic book origins.

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Who Plays Karshon In Aquaman 2

Karshon is portrayed by Indya Moore in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, who dons CGI-heavy pale blue regalia in her position at the center of the Council of Atlantis. Indya Moore is a relatively new actor in Hollywood, most well known for her leading role as Angel in Pose, a series based on New York City’s thriving ball culture in the 1980s and 1990s. Moore has also appeared in the critically acclaimed Queen and Slim, where she portrayed the role of Goddess.

Moore’s scenes in the movie are brief, but she fills the role of a stalwart traditionalist unwilling to kowtow to Arthur Curry’s authority as he attempts to deliver significant reforms. While her role is brief, Moore is quickly established as a thorn in Aquaman’s side before he undermines her wishes later in the film. Karshon’s antagonism is relatively toothless in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is an ironic depiction of just how far the character detracts from Karshon in DC Comics.

Karshon Is An Anthropomorphic Shark In DC Comics

Not only is Karshon (also known simply as “The Shark“) an entirely different species in DC Comics, but his tussles are mostly with Green Lanterns rather than Aquaman. As an average tiger shark that mutates thanks to a radioactive explosion, DC’s Karshon is also a lot more inherently violent than his on-screen counterpart, though he maintains a similar level of intelligence in addition to psionic abilities. These traits show just how much of a departure Moore’s Karshon is from her comic book namesake, but there are certain similarities to be found in Karshon’s comic book history.

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The Shark adopted the name Karshon in his run-in with Aquaman in DC Comics. This saw Karshon shape-shift into a decidedly more human-like humanoid which was modeled off of an Atlantean of the same name. Karshon then usurped Aquaman for a short spell before Aquaman wrestled it back from the tiger shark in human form. This facet of Karshon’s history is the one that most closely resembles the Karshon in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but the differences are still blatant.

Why Aquaman 2 Made Such A Big Change To DC’s Karshon

Director James Wan, gave ample warning about Karshon’s changes when speaking with Empire in the lead-up to the film’s release (via GameRant). He clarified that Karshon would be different from the Shark character from the comics, stating “one of the things we wanted to do, now that Arthur is king of Atlantis, is to give him barriers within the political world. Karshon comes from the High Council and is like a political roadblock for Arthur.” With that in mind, the Karshon of the movie is more akin to the Karshon that Shark modeled his humanoid body off of in the comics.

This also explains why Wan didn’t just use a humanoid shark body regardless – the likes of which were seen in the Sunken Citadel pirate haven. Using Karshon’s humanoid form has some comic-book accuracy, as does her apparent wish to remove Arthur from his throne. Another reason could pertain to the similarities between Shark and King Shark, who was recently seen making a splash in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Given the physical similarities between these two characters, it makes sense that Wan would not want to confuse audiences by featuring another anthropomorphic shark in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

PG-13

Director

James Wan

Release Date

December 22, 2023

Studio(s)

DC Studios , Safran Company , Atomic Monster

Writers

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Cast

Jason Momoa , Amber Heard , Patrick Wilson , Dolph Lundgren , Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Temuera Morrison

Runtime

124 Minutes

Franchise(s)

DCU