In 1984, UCLA students Thomas Farr and Jeff Klein pooled $10,000 of their own money to create the world’s first Aquaman fan film: the DC-sanctioned Aquaman: Cast of the Angler.
Taking creative liberties with the character’s origin story — which now includes an assist from Jacques Cousteau — the film pits Aquaman against “The Angler”, (a somehow less bizarre stand-in for classic aqua-tagonist, “The Fisherman”), as he holds the ocean ransom with a deadly toxin.
After sending the script to former DC Comics president Jenette Kahn, the publisher granted the filmmakers permission to go ahead with their unique take on the character.
Not only is Cast of the Angler the first live-action depiction of Aquaman on film, the twenty-minute short also boasts an early appearance from prolific Hollywood stuntman Thomas Dewier as the villainous Angler. He’d go on to feature in Batman & Robin, Iron Man 3, X-Men: First Class, Star Trek into Darkness, the Power Rangers movie, and even the sequel to C.H.U.D., C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. Regrettably, the film also appears to have beeen the final creative output of directors, Farr and Klein. Not everything floats.
Contact the author at [email protected].
