DC just made a somewhat controversial part of Zack Snyder’s Justice League an official part of DC Comics canon. That would be Aquaman’s chosen place of residence – or at least drinking pub – in Iceland. The recent DC Comics release Aquaman: The Becoming #6 focuses on the character of Jackson Hyde, and when the young man (who is up to inherit the mantle of Aquaman), finds himself in some personal turmoil, his mentor Arthur has to head off to Iceland on a mission of assistance (if you want to call it that).
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(WARNING: SPOILERS For Aquaman: The Becoming FOLLOW!)
This issue saw Meeka and her Xebelian Liberation Front attack and take Mera and other Atlantean delegates hostage. Jackson, his mother Lucia, and newly-revealed half-sister Deluge teamed up for a counterattack that defeated Meeka and rescued the hostages – but there was a steep cost, as Lucia jumps in front of an attack meant for Jackson, and suffers serious injuries that leave her incapacitated in an Atlantean hospital. With his entire life story turned upside-down, and his mother now out of commission, Jackson is understandably angry and lost. So Arthur travels to Iceland to a pub, to have a drink with none other than Jackson’s father (and Aquaman’s arch-nemesis) Black Manta!
It’s impossible not to see this scene set in Iceland as anything but a nod to the DCEU and Zack Snyder’s Justice League version of Aquaman, who is played by Jason Momoa. In the theatrical cut of Justice League. the Icelandic fishing town Arthur helps to sustain (by saving drowning fishermen or bringing in hauls of sea life) was mostly backdrop for a semi-comical scene of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne having a rocky first introduction with Arthur Curry. Zack Snyder’s Justice League made things much more somber and (frankly) weird, with an extended scene that showed how the Icelandic people look at Aquaman as a god… to the point of singing impromptu hymns about him on the beach. The Snydercut of Justice League also had additional footage of Arthur in the Icelandic town, doing some hard-drinking as well as a questionable act of marine littering, which also didn’t sit very well with fans.
DC has been doing plenty of fun nods to the infamous “Snyderverse” version of its lore recently. James Gunn’s Peacemaker TV series even took it as far as having Momoa show up for a comedic cameo at Aquaman’s expense. Naturally, that joke now doesn’t sit well at fans with fns of the Snyderverse, and DC’s happy merry-go-round keeps on turning…
Aquaman: The Becoming is on sale at DC Comics. Zack Snyder’s Justice League streams on HBO Max.
