Just when you thought celebrity baby names couldn’t get any more outrageous, Trisha Paytas dives in with a plot twist straight from Atlantis. The internet personality, never one to shy away from spectacle (remember when she said that we don’t need gravity?), has now named her newborn son, Aquaman. Yes — like the King of the Seven Seas and the one who is 100 percent committed to wet hair flips. Naturally, Guardians of the Galaxy and Superman: Legacy director James Gunn had the most hilariously concerned reaction.
When asked about it, Gunn chuckled, winced, spiralled into some real talk about schoolyard bullying and baby nicknames because apparently, even superheroes aren’t immune to teasing. It’s okay, it’s good for the arc. Gunn responded with the kind of cautious optimism you’d expect from someone who’s seen a few too many origin stories go wrong.
‘I saw that, yes. I think that’s cool! I mean…’ he said, pausing as the concern kicked in. “I hope he does okay in school. I had a hard time with the last name Gunn — like Tommy Gunn, BB gun, ray gun. I’m like ‘Okay, we get it.’"
Gunn was clearly invested, posing the kind of existential parenting question we didn’t expect from the MCU director: ‘Are they going to call him AQ? What are they going to call him? Won’t he get made fun of in school? Do kids make fun of kids anymore?’
Thankfully, actor Frank Grillo stepped in with Bronx-born reassurance: ‘He’s going to be fine. Especially if he lives up in New ,York where I grew up, he’ll be fine.’
Let’s not forget, this is not Trisha’s first dive into wild baby names. Her daughter is named Malibu Barbie Paytas-Hacmon and her son is named Elvis Paytas-Hacmon. With Barbie, Elvis and Aquaman under one roof. This family has acting and singing covered.
One thing’s for sure— Trisha Paytas knows how to name-drop like no one else.