Clearly, The Marvel Equivalent of Orm is (Spoiler). Yep, You Knew It
*WARNING! Major spoilers for Aquaman ahead*
In our review of Aquaman, we mentioned in the caption of one of the photos, “blond vs black haired half-brothers”. Does it strike a chord with you? If it does, you would have probably known the answer. Scroll down to check if yours is the same dude that we are mentioning about.
Hint #1
It came as little surprise that when Arthur Curry was apprehended by the underwater Atlantean guards, being held down by rather beautiful chains, he almost overpowered all of them when Orm gave him a little, rather sharp combination of words. That was perhaps the film’s second attempt to emphasis to you on Aquaman’s might, after he explosively forced a war submarine to the surface, Superman style, during the beginning of the film. When Orm agreed to release the chains on his brother and fight him one-versus-one, what are the odds like? I am not clever with numbers, but I think that should total up to Orm-getting-his-wet-ass-whacked. Afterall, it looks like Orm was getting slender from swimming in and out Atlantis all his life, while Arthur seems to be paying frequent visits to two kinds of organization on the “surface”. One is called a gym, and the other is commonly known as a tattoo shop. A towering hunk and a slender prick. A black-haired and a blonde. My prophecy was about to turn real.
Hint #2
After the decisive battle, Orm was on his knees, his life at Arthur’s mercy, with his neck just millimeters away from that mighty golden trident, ready to turn him into a salmon sashimi at any second. Then, to confirm to the normal code of superheroes’ conduct, Arthur spared Orm’s life. Like what T’Challa did to Killmonger. How unsurprising. Then, things started to get really familiar here. Queen Atlanna made a sudden appearance, to the surprise of the almost teary-eyed Orm. Ironic, right? After years of scathing attacks on her mother as being imperfect for having Arthur, who would have guessed that deep inside, Orm still had a soft spot for his mother, and missed her dearly. Arthur then plainly expressed his intention to have a talk with his half-brother, when “he is ready”. This strongly hinted that the two brothers might reconcile, after years of divide caused by the Atlantean throne, and the different parts of earth they both originated from. They profess one similar thing: the love for their mother.
The first step to make the link to Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is to swap out the hair colors. Imagine Arthur Curry with blonde locks, Orm with black slick hair. Yep. Its clear right? Marvel’s counterpart of Orm, is Loki.
The striking similarities between Arthur-Orm relationship and Thor-Loki are undeniable. They all had throne-problem, which caused the majority of the split. One is a hunk, and the other, slender. One is laid back, carefree and forgiving (read: less intelligent), while the other will stab you just for making fun of their hairdo’s alone. All in all, both brothers share an equal love for their mothers. I hope I got the nouns right. And yeah, it’s always the elder brothers who possess those cool, legendary weapons. You lucky bastards. Oops
Other Notable Similarities with MCU
Though the heavyweight is definitely the Thor-Loki relationship between Arthur and Orm, there are other elements of Marvel that were present here. Black Manta clearly reminded me of Ivan Vanko from Iron Man 2 (2010). They both tempered with unfamiliar technologies to customize a suit, just to call it their own, or maybe bragged a little about it as great achievements. Yea, I know, your colleagues did that too. And putting the different geographical locations aside, the lost City of Atlantis is a perfect match as DCEU’s version of Wakanda. Dope technological advancement. Hidden and shielded from the outside world. A united nation under multiple tribes. You name it. The similarities can go on and on. Cleverly integrated elements, or just by coincidence? It’s your call.
*This article was originally published on The Film Addict
