Aquaman (TV program)

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Aquaman
The logo from the Aquaman pilot
Genre	Drama, Science-Fiction
Picture format	HDTV
Running time	42 minutes (60 with commercials)
Executive producer(s)	Miles Millar
Starring	Justin Hartley Denise Quiñones Ving Rhames Lou Diamond Phillips Rick Peters Amber McDonald Daniella Wolters
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	The CW
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

This article is about the 2006 television pilot episode. For the 1968 animated television series, see Aquaman (animated series)

Aquaman (also known as Mercy Reef) was a highly anticipated television pilot based on the DC Comics character Aquaman, developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The CW^[1]. It would have debuted in the fall of 2006, however it was not picked up by any network to be in its prime-time lineup. On May 18, 2006 when The CW announced its fall lineup, Mercy Reef was absent. However, Dawn Ostroff, the president of entertainment for The CW, stated that it was still a midseason contender ^[2]. On July 24, the first episode became one of the first shows offered by Warner Brothers on the iTunes Music Store, under the title Aquaman. It soon reached the number-one spot on the list of most downloaded TV shows on the digital store's list.

1 Overview
2 Cast and Characters
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Overview

Development of this show followed a fifth season episode of Smallville entitled "Aqua", which featured the character as played by Alan Ritchson, but it is not known if the new series will share continuity with the Smallville episode or with Smallville in general. The show takes place in the fictional community of Tempest Key. Tempest Key is noted as being 25 miles off Mercy Reef, which is the name of the town in which Aquaman grew up in the source comics after being abandoned by his Atlantean family. The pilot episode began filming in March 2006. Some scenes were filmed on location at the Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida.^[3].

[edit] Cast and Characters

Although the show has no official website, the original casting calls have been published ^[4], and casting information has been compiled by a fan website^[5]. Significant portions of the character histories and dynamics may have changed since the original release of the casting calls, and might change again from the pilot to the aired episodes if the show is picked up. It is also not certain which of the characters are series regulars, and which may simply be recurring or guest stars. Justin Hartley will star as Arthur "A.C." Curry, who is Aquaman. A.C. is the central character of the show, and in his day-to-day life he runs a dive shop. He is aware of his special abilities, but uses them for fun and to "get laid" before learning in the pilot episode of his destiny as the lost Prince of Atlantis^[1] .

Tom Curry is A.C.'s stepfather, played by Lou Diamond Phillips^[5]^[6]. A Coast Guard officer, Tom rescued the infant Arthur (then named Orin), his Atlantean mother Atlanna, and an old man named McCaffery from shark-infested waters while still a rookie. He then fell in love with Atlanna, subsequently marrying her and adopting her son. McCaffery, played by Ving Rhames, became a lighthouse keeper and A.C.'s mentor.^[5]^[7]. Unbeknownst to A.C., McCaffery is Atlantean like himself. Rachel Torres, played by Denise Quiñones, is a fighter pilot who will be a potential love interest for A.C., while relative newcomer Amber McDonald will portray A.C.'s best friend Eva. Rachel's commanding officer is Admiral Brigman, played by Rick Peters. Brigman will apparently be conducting an investigation into mysterious occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle. A character in the pilot named Nadia is described as a siren and will be played by Adrianne Palicki. Similar to vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they are capable of assuming a human and a monstrous form, and it is implied by McCaffery that they are the weakest of the aquatic evils of the world which A.C. must face. In addition, Daniella Wolters has been cast as Atlanna, and young A.C. would have been played in flashback scenes by Graham Bentz.

[edit] Trivia

The role of A.C. was originally given to Will Toale as of January 2006, but then in late February, Toale was replaced with Hartley. Alan Ritchson was never considered for the role in the new series.^[1]

The pilot was released on iTunes (available only to US customers) for $1.99 on July 27, 2006. It quickly became the most downloaded TV show and in October was still in the top 100 most downloaded iTunes shows.

The "Aqua-Embargo" that made Black Manta unavailable for the Justice League Unlimited animated series (being "changed" into Devil Ray) could mean that Black Manta would have appeared in the series.

Aquaman's boat, the Quint, is also a fictional character in the novel Jaws by Peter Benchley and the film of the same title (1975) directed by Steven Spielberg. Quint's boat in Jaws is the Orca.

Justin Hartley also plays Oliver Queen on the TV show Smallville whose secret identity is the Green Arrow.

Justin Hartley will be playing with Alan Ritchson in the eleventh episode of the sixth season Smallville titled "Justice". Alan Ritchson reprises his role as Aquaman.