How did Aquaman go from Hollywood's biggest joke to a billion-dollar franchise?

The answer

Aquaman spent decades as the butt of superhero jokes. Saturday Night Live parodied him in 1992 with David Spade; Robot Chicken made him a recurring punchline; Entourage used a fictional Aquaman movie as a Hollywood cautionary tale. The character was widely dismissed as the hero who 'just talks to fish.' Director James Wan transformed the perception entirely with Aquaman (2018), starring Jason Momoa, which grossed $1.15 billion globally - making it the highest-grossing DC film ever at the time, surpassing even The Dark Knight Rises. It became the first DCEU film to cross the billion-dollar threshold. The success forced Warner Bros. to rethink its entire DC strategy and greenlighted an immediate sequel.