u/IndianGeniusGuy

KJ Apa [Riverdale, A Dog's Purpose, One Fast Move] as Aquaman

Isaac Arellanes [Ghostwriter, My Life With The Walter Boys, A Million Miles Away] as Aqualad I [Garth]

Lili Reinhart [Riverdale, Forbidden Fruits] as Mera

James McAvoy [X-Men: First Class, Split, Wanted] as The Thirst

Nathan Stewart-Jarett [Misfits, Culprits, Azrael] as Black Manta

Morris Chestnut [Watson, The Brothers, The Best Man] as Vulko

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez or Gore Verbinski

Basic concept here is that Aquaman, who'd be in his late 20s here, is a few years into his superhero career and is coming fresh off of what was essentially the worst year of his life. Black Manta killed his infant son, brutalized his wife, and dismembered his hand. It's left him a fundamentally bitter and isolated person who's effectively disappeared from the world and abandoned his responsibilities for the past several months. There have been brief sightings on occasion of a man appearing from the ocean, attacking drug smugglers and pirates in the Pacific, but other than that, he's become a ghost. The story would follow a loose adaptation of the 2003 run, where, after suffering grievous injuries, he's rescued by the Lady of the Lake and healed with the waters of the Secret Sea. The story would basically follow him learning to accept his loss and move forward so that he can become the hero the world needs him to be and stop The Thirst from draining the rivers of the Earth and destroying all life in the Secret Sea. The emotional core of the film would also be about Aquaman reconciling with his grief and gradually working to repair his relationships with his wife, his friends, and the kingdom he's neglected.

This is probably my personal favorite Damian Wayne storyline, and I consider it probably his best development as a character since it was probably one of the first times when he really struck out on his own and started recognizing the pain he'd left behind in the world during his time as an assassin. I think it could easily work as a mini-series after BATB, where he goes off on a solo adventure without Batman to "earn his place" before he can come back. What do you guys think?