The oceans beckon, and Kaldur’ahm will heed the call. Voice actor Khary Payton has assured fans that he’ll return to the role of Aqualad in the upcoming third season of Young Justice. This news comes despite the actor’s rising prominence as King Ezekiel in AMC’s popular The Walking Dead. You heard that right: Kaldur’ahm and the leader of the Kingdom, with his loyal pet tiger, are one in the same.
In a recent interview with ComicBook, Payton said, “It’s gonna be so much fun just getting back to those stories and getting back to Kaldur and seeing how he grows. He’s one of my favorite characters of all time.”
Aqualad was the de facto leader of the junior group of DC heroes for much of Young Justice’s Season 1, and he worked undercover as an antagonist in Season 2, parlaying his grief over Tula’s death as a justifiable reason to turn on his former allies to work with both his father, Black Manta, and The Light. The plan had been hatched with Nightwing, and not even Aquaman knew of the mission’s true nature. Despite an unfortunate instance of his mind being shattered, Aqualad was eventually able to confront his father and ultimately assist in preventing the Reach from disrupting the Earth’s magnetic fields, all at the expense of Wally’s life.
The last we saw of him, Aqualad was once again leading the ever-growing group of young heroes, this time out of the Watchtower. Vandal Savage also traveled to Apokolips, where the ageless villain greeted Darkseid, a classic DC villain and ally to The Light that will no doubt be the Big Bad of Season 3. Darkseid is, of course, incredibly powerful, so Kaldur’ahm and the rest of his companions are sure to have their hands full whenever Season 3 releases in the hopefully not-so-distant future.
The Walking Dead returns this Sunday, and Young Justice Season 3 is slated for a possible 2017 release.
