DC Multiverse Justice League Aquaman review

Aquaman tends to be looked down upon by many as a joke due to his powers and the fact that he had a fresh cut look to him, especially in the Superfriends series where he was nothing but a weaksauce guy compared to the others. DC tried to make him a cooler character all around, which worked pretty well considering how moments in the 90s like the Death of Superman and Knightfall were iconic for comic fans. Aquaman's movie appearance did not appear until 2016, where he has a departure from his normal appearances by initially having a seasoned look to him in the UNITE THE SEVEN poster before getting a new suit that makes Atlantian culture more than just fish people. Then he wore his ancestor's suit in his solo movie, which was fine though it does make his head look out of place. I still prefer the suit design from Justice League, even if it was Josstice that I saw. How does he work as a figure? Let's find out.

Before we begin, I want to mention that the images were taken in the inside of my house because it was snowing outdoors, and I planned on taking images of this figure outside of my home. This may affect some of the other reviews depending on when the pics were made. Here we have Aquaman in his Justice League suit, which does look nicely translated on this figure. The sculpting is done so well for the suit, capturing all of the gritty details of the armor that Atlantian warriors wore. Its copper highlights go well with the olive green suit, and I especially love the shoulder pads and the buckle having the symbol he's known to have, even if there is one in the back. The flesh tones of the hands don't look too bad, but I have to admit that they look slightly out of scale with each other. The right hand is posed to have him hold a weapon, yeah, but it doesn't work as well because it looks slightly oversized next to the left hand. At least the head doesn't look under or oversized.

Speaking of the head, the likeness to Jason Momoa is perfectly fine, but it's still got that traditional action figure where it mostly resembles the actor. I think Mattel still hadn't quite nailed the technology that Hasbro is using for their Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series, and now Power Rangers: Lightning Collection. The pupils could match each other a bit better, though I think they were going for the way they look on Momoa IRL. The hair does look alright, and I like the added dark tan for parts of his hair color and even beard! And we can't neglect the slight scar on his left eyebrow.

Articulation is typical for the line. Head is somewhat on a ball joint but it can't move too well because of the PVC used for the hair. Shoulders move front and back, in and out, swivel at the biceps, bend at the elbows, and swivel at the wrists. The waist swivels, hips move front and back, in and out, the upper part of the knees could swivel but they seem glued, the knees bend, and the ankles hinge only. Same articulation as with most of the other figures, so no double joints or ab crunch.

His one accessory is the quintet used in the movie. It makes sense given how it's his signature weapon. Thankfully no glowing rope accessory or armpit smelling action either. The quintet's molded in dark gray plastic and is kind of hard to make him look cool holding it because of how one hand isn't open like the other. I guess posing him where he looks like he's throwing it like a spear helps better.

Here is Aquaman's Steppenwolf piece. It's a right leg, and it has about the same articulation as most JL figures in the DC Multiverse line do.

Here are some comparisons with the BvS version of Aquaman, a shirtless JL Aquaman, and the solo movie version with a more comic accurate suit. The BvS version does have a bit of a 300 vibe with his less armored appearance, though his BvS appearance was nowhere near as prominent as with his later appearances. The JL version has tattoos on his body, though they look different from the BvS one. Either way, that's way more tattoos than he would really need. I believe that the figure's head is reused from the JL version I am reviewing. The Aquaman figure gives him a more regal version of his comic suit, but I think it's a bit of a mixed bag. Looks better than I expected, but much like with the MCU Spider-Man suits, the strive for extreme comic accuracy does lead to some parts of his design looking out of place. His head comes to mind.

Here he is with the rest of the team that I have so far. All I need are Flash and Cyborg. As for these four, the best things about them are the nice attention to detail with their suits and the paint added on them. Articulation and accessories, on the other hand, is pretty lacking for most of them.

And that sums how I feel about Aquaman; this figure is alright at best. Much like with the other figures in the line, there is a lot to like about the figure when it comes to how it resembles his appearance in the movie, but things like the lack of articulation at a $20 price tag do make this figure feel like it's not worth the asking price. If you got this figure for $10 like I did, you should definitely get him. Otherwise, you should pass on this line.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐