With the second annual DC FanDome event now just over a week away, a range of emojis in connection with it have just launched on Twitter. They highlight a variety of iconic DC heroes and titles, including the usual suspects like Batman, Black Adam, and The Flash. But one of them comes as a big surprise and has got fans wondering whether we’re about to see this underrated character make their debut in the DCEU.
Yes, an Aqualad emoji has launched, and โ intriguingly โ it’s the exact same as the Aquaman emoji. The King of the Seas himself Jason Momoa will be taking part in DC FanDome to hype up 2022’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, so fans are theorizing that they’re going to announce that his Atlantean sidekick will be showing up in the James Wan-directed sequel, too.
You could say people are excited.
There have been several incarnations of Aqualad over the years, but nowadays the most popular version is Jackson Hyde AKA Kaldur’ahm, thanks to his leading role in the Young Justice animated series. But will Aquaman 2 feature Jackson?
As DC fans know, Jackson is typically the son of Arthur Curry’s nemesis David Hyde AKA Black Manta, who’s played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the DCEU. But the movie Manta’s got to be too young to have a kid of Jackson’s age, right?
There’s an idea going around, then, that maybe Jackson could be reimagined as Manta’s younger brother instead of his son.
On the other hand, while most of the talk is about Jackson, others hope that Aquaman 2 doesn’t ignore original Aqualad, Garth, who is often overlooked.
Are fans getting ahead of themselves here? Well, maybe. For example, it’s possible this emoji is foreshadowing an announcement that Aqualad is returning to Titans, as the likes of Robin, Raven, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy have also got emojis for DC FanDome. But an appearance from Aqualad – whichever version it is – in Aquaman 2 would make a lot of sense as the follow-up is sure to expand the Aqua-verse in some major ways.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is coming to theaters on December 16th, 2022. In the short term, DC FanDome takes place on Saturday, October 16th.