Aquaman/Arthur Curry has never really been given much screen time since the character’s inception, with the only real glimpse being in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The sea hero has mostly been depicted as someone who can just speak to sea creatures and swim really fast. But the newest iteration of Aquaman by Warner Bros., set to have major role in the DC Cinematic Universe, may finally give the character a respectable position.
Jason Mamoa (Game of Thrones) stars as the hero, with his first substantial appearance coming in 2017’s Justice League Part 1, followed by the standalone Aquaman coming in summer of 2018. James Wan is helming the latter project, having previously done many renowned horror films like The Conjuring and Saw. He should bring his own unique style and tone to the film just as Zack Snyder did with Dawn of Justice. In a recent interview with MTV News, Wan discussed many intriguing elements for the standalone and what the origins may stem from.
There’s Justice League that happens before it, so I have to be respectful to that. But in a lot of ways… it’s a continuation but there are origin elements as well — and that’s the story that I’m excited to tell.
So, we will have to wait and see how Snyder handles Aquaman in the Justice League films, but it seems like Wan is still very intent on making the character his own, as well as bringing him out from the shadows after being seen mostly as an unimportant hero in the DC comic books. The director went on to discuss his love of the hero and what the potential could be in the long-term.
A big part of it was me telling them what potential I saw in this character. As we all know, Aquaman is somewhat the butt of the joke in the superhero world. There’s something cool about that. I love the idea of being the underdog, coming in with a take on this underdog character and completely blow people’s expectations away. Like, ’Oh, you thought he was going to be a wimpy character? No no no.’ It’s going to be so cool.
Wan is currently involved in finishing work on The Conjuring 2, after having the first film become the highest-grossing horror film of all time by bringing in over $380 million on $20 million budget. He should not be underestimated in the great things he could bring to Aquaman, even if there isn’t as many horror elements as there have been in his past work. The standalone has recently cast Amber Heard (Magic Mike XXL) as Mera, who is both wife of Aquaman and Queen of Atlantis.
Warner Bros. has attached an interesting list of directors for their upcoming superhero projects, all of whom have very creative visual styles, which should make for a diverse variety of films. It’s been too long a wait for fans to see live-action versions of their favorite DC characters on the big screen, and finally we are getting a reliable, talented filmmaker like Wan to see that Aquaman gets his long-awaited respect in the comic book world.
Justice League Part 1 opens on November 17, 2017, followed by Aquaman on July 27, 2018, and Justice League Part 2 on June 14, 2019.
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