Aqualad series based on You Brought Me the Ocean in development for HBO Max

If you’re not getting enough underwater adventures from Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, then you might be pleased to know that HBO Max is developing a series centered around Aqualad.

The live-action, one-hour dramedy series will be based on You Brought Me the Ocean, the YA graphic novel by Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh that tells the origins of Aqualad. It will explore the life of “Jackson ‘Jake’ Hyde, a gay teenager living in New Mexico. All his life, he has had a strange attraction to the water and yearns to escape his desert surroundings for the ocean. As he explores his abilities, including breathing under and controlling water, he also finds himself falling in love with his classmate, high school swim captain Kenny Liu.” No writer is currently attached to the Aqualad series, but it will be executive produced by Charlize Theron, A.J. Dix, Beth Kono, and Andrew Hass for Warner Bros. Television. The Jackson Hyde version of Aqualad was created by Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman, and Phil Bourassa for the Young Justice TV series but the character actually debuted in Brightest Day #4 just months before his TV introduction.

Speaking of Aquaman, production on the much-anticipated sequel wrapped earlier this year but Warner Bros. also pushed the release date back to March 17, 2023. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will also star Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry. Director James Wan has also previously stated that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be heavily inspired by an unlikely source – Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires. “Aquaman 2 is very heavily inspired by Planet of the Vampires,” Wan teased. “You can take the boy out of the horror but you can never take the horror out of the boy.“