News that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will introduce Karshon (aka The Shark) to the DC Extended Universe is inviting comparisons to The Suicide Squad's beloved King Shark, and understandably so, but the two comic book villains are actually quite a bit different. Indya Moore of the Emmy award-winning FX series Pose is set to tackle the role, although details about their character are being kept quiet at this time.
Aquaman 2 began filming this summer in England and will serve as a follow-up to the massively successful Aquaman, which still stands as the highest-grossing film in the DCEU worldwide. James Wan returns to direct, based on a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who also co-penned the original. Jason Momoa will reprise his role as the Justice League's famed protector of the deep, with Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Wilson, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II all returning for the sequel as well.
The Shark is a DC comics deep cut who originally debuted as a Green Lantern villain in the 1960s, over two decades before King Shark's first appearance in Karl Kesel's Superboy. The character was introduced as a literal tiger shark who "traversed evolutionary eons in a matter of minutes" after being hit full-force by an atomic blast. Essentially, his brain was so advanced he could manipulate matter with his mind and enter the minds of others to inflict a feeling of sheer terror that somehow made him stronger. King Shark is a formidable villain in his own regard, and, as the son of the Shark God, he is technically a Hawaiian demigod. He has superhuman strength and nearly unlimited stamina, in addition to the more obvious physical features of being a shark that make him a terror in close combat.
The biggest difference between the two characters is their intellect. King Shark is a single-minded kind of villain. He's not exceptionally bright in The Suicide Squad and really just wants to spend his time being a shark, doing shark things like eating people. Conversely, Karshon actively sought out superheroes because devouring normal people wasn't a fulfilling enough challenge for an apex predator who, during his very first time in a public setting, nonchalantly scared a heavyweight champion to death simply by looking at him.
Thus far it has only been reported that Moore will play Karshon in Aquaman 2, not necessarily The Shark, which means that the DCEU could certainly take liberties with the character that further separate them from King Shark. The first use of the name "Karshon" came from a 1976 arc in Adventure Comics that saw a man named Karshon win an election to become the new ruler of Atlantis. Over the course of several books, it was revealed he was actually Lantern's old nemesis The Shark, who had been working in the shadows with some of Aquaman's greatest villains including Black Manta, the Fisherman, and the Ocean Master.
It's unknown if this vintage arc will provide any inspiration for the DCEU newcomer in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but it could help to further separate them from King Shark, who is currently experiencing an unexpected rise in popularity due to The Suicide Squad and the Harley Quinn animated series. King Shark will also be a playable character in the upcoming video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League from Rocksteady, officially introducing him to the Arkham-verse, so it's unlikely the cold-blooded demigod is going away any time soon. Whether or not a second shark can reach the same level of popularity in 2022 remains to be seen.
