Fun
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Is there a better time to catch up on a superhero movie you missed than on a Saturday night in August? You’ve spent the last few months running a gauntlet of blockbusters at the movie theater and now you can reward yourself by just staying at home, blasting the AC, and letting your living room be your multiplex.
If that sounds like a plan, then you’ll want to clear your schedule tonight because Aquaman is debuting on HBO. Directed by horror auteur James Wan and featuring the charismatic Jason Momoa in the title role, Aquaman was kind of a surprise hit when it surfaced back in December 2018. The film beat Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at the domestic box office and became the first film in DC’s currently unfolding movie slate to earn a billion dollars worldwide. If you asked a DC Comics fan, even one that knows Topo from Tusky, if Aquaman would ever be a bigger box office draw than Batman, they would LOLed for hours. But people flocked to the undersea adventure, and now you can too without having to leave your home.
What is the Aquaman HBO premiere date?
Aquaman lands on HBO at 8 p.m. ET, meaning you’ll be able to watch it live on the pay cable network at that point. But if you want to have a DC Comics double-feature, you’ll need to tune in earlier, at 5:55 p.m. ET. That’s because HBO, anticipating the thirsty Aquaman crowd, are pre-gaming the movie’s cable debut by airing 2017’s Justice League right before it.
That film introduced audiences to Momoa’s 21st century take on Arthur Curry, reimagining the Atlantean usually dismissed as a joke as a super buff, super cool hero with a rad attitude. Justice League paired Momoa up with the rest of DC’s superheroes, including Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and, although we didn’t know it then, the final appearances of Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill as Batman and Superman.
Of course you can stream Justice League on HBO Go right now, as it made its HBO debut last year.
Do you have to watch Justice League before you watch Aquaman?
You do not! While there is a passing reference to the events of Justice League in Aquaman, you really only need to know that the undersea hero saved Atlantis once before. Otherwise, the film does a thorough job of explaining Aquaman’s origin and his powers, all stuff that was only glossed over in Justice League. So in fact, maybe you have to watch Aquaman before you watch Justice League so you can really appreciate the character.
What’s the Aquaman HBO GO release date?
You’ll be able to stream Aquaman on HBO GO and HBO NOW right when it starts airing on HBO, so at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 10.
