Growing up, I had always been more of a DC fan than a marvel fan. While I loved the latter’s Ultimate line, my mind instantly turned to the idea of DC’s doing something similar. You can imagine my excitement when DC announced their Earth One line. This was a line of original graphic novels that allowed DC’s top creators to reimagine the company’s most celebrated characters free of continuity. This initiative began with entries for Batman and Superman written by the teams of J Michael Strasinski and Shane Davis and frequent collaborators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, respectively. I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to see what these creative teams would do with the characters. While there has been some progress on the Earth One line over the years via installments of Titans, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, many of which came out on an erratic schedule. Additionally, the Earth-One iterations of both Aquaman and The Flash have been in some form of development with Francis Manapul and the aforementioned Strasinski, respectively. That has now changed thanks to DC’s line-wide event, Future State as well as the end of DC Exclusive contracts.
According to The Aquaverse Twitter account, Francis Manapul is no longer exclusive with DC, the project is likely canceled. The news is another blow to the Aquaman comic franchise with no new book announced following the conclusion of Future State. Ever since the Superfriends, The king of Atlantis never seemed to get a fair shake with Geoff Johns run on the character and the Jason Momoa Aquaman film, which grossed over a billion dollars and still stands as the DCEU’s only film to reach that benchmark.
Aquaman: EARTH ONE Update: In news that should surprise no one, Francis Manapul has confirmed he is no longer under contract with DC and this project is dead at present. pic.twitter.com/axTXTfCrxa
— The Aquaverse 🔱 (@AquamanUniverse) January 22, 2021
As a result, it’s incredibly disheartening to see the character being brushed aside. Back in the day one of the big reasons Batman Earth one had been delayed initially was so that the release could coincide with the Dark Knight Rises. with the book being in development since 2015, the release of Aquaman would have been the perfect time to release Aquaman Earth One. All that being said, perhaps the project will come around again one day and fans will get a whole new take on the Aquaman legend.
Are you disappointed by Aquaman Earth One’s apparent cancellation, or do you think this is for the best? Let us know on our social media pages!
