Director James Wan shows off scenes from Aquaman, reveals inspirations for film

The next entry in the DC Extended Universe is  nearly upon on us: Aquaman, starring Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) in the title role. As the movie enters the home stretch of post-production, director James Wan sat down with SyFy Wire to reveal new details about what we’re in for:

"Even though it’s a superhero character, my approach to it really wasn’t as a superhero film. I really wanted more of a fantasy approach to it. I pulled influences from just stuff that’s inspired me and influenced me since I was a little kid — I went all the way from classic Ray Harryhausen to the more traditional Spielberg earlier stuff."

Wan, best known directing horror films like Saw and The Conjuring, struggled with updating a character often seen as a bit of a joke, especially when set alongside the likes of Superman and Batman. “How do I kind of make him, you know, kind of cooler and more relevant for today’s world?” he wondered.

Dropping the orange-and-green outfit probably helped. Minor SPOILERS follow below.

After detailing his approach, Wan showed off footage from Aquaman, which included a fair bit of plot. The prologue details Arthur Curry’s (aka Aquaman) origin story as the son of the Atalantean Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and human father Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison). The two fall in love, do what comes naturally, and baby Aquaman is born before Atlanna is forced back below the waves and into a forced marriage to King Orvax.

Atlanna, unsurprisingly, lives in Atlantis, a mythological city Wan had fun breaking down:

"I took all of that mythology and played with it. They still have a sort of monarch system that they’re very true to. They have a very rigid way of looking at things… playing up the whole sort of monarch queen and king aspect of it and basically amping that up to its tenth degree."

But not everything about the movie will be subversive; it sounds like Aquaman himself will have a traditional hero’s arc. “It’s really about Arthur going through a hero’s journey, seeing all the different culture and appreciating all the different people that are there, that he never appreciated before.”

And part of a hero’s arc is a villain to best. Who might Aquaman fight in his first solo movie, set after Justice League? Stop us if you’ve heard this one, Game of Thrones fans: Aquaman will face off against King Orm (Patrick Wilson), his half-brother and the current ruler of Atlantis.

"King Orm is sick and tired of our s**t, he finally wants to deal with that. But our hero, Arthur, has to go back there and try and stop his brother. He’s technically the correct heir to the throne, so the only way he can go stop his brother would be to go back and try and reclaim his throne. King Orm’s not going to give it up so easily."

Aquaman’s quest to gain the throne and stop his brother will feature ritual combat in an underwater Roman colosseum-looking place complete with an active volcano. Wan gushed over the sequence, which features trident fights aplenty. “For [the Atlanteans], they’re way more powerful when they’re actually underwater,” he said. “They’re supercharged in a lot of ways.”

Wan also gushed over meeting Momoa. “One of the coolest things about meeting Jason in person was just seeing how funny and cool he is, and how charming and likable he is in person. I wanted to get more of that person that he is in real life into the movie.”

Momoa is still number one on our list of celebrities we want to drink with. Will that come across?

Of course, Momoa isn’t the only actor in the film. Amber Heard plays Mera, Aquaman’s love interest and the daughter of King Nereus, who’s playing by Dolph Lundgren. Wan screened a scene showing off the romantic bickering between the pair as they search for a lost tribe of Atlantis early in the film; it’s the same scene from the trailer where Aquaman and Mera jump from an airplane.

Wan hasn’t forgotten his horror roots either, so be ready for a bit of that lurking in the depths of the ocean. “The story and the world really lends itself to lots of different flavors,” the director said. “I always say that the ocean is a really magical place, full of wonder and magic, but it can also be very scary as well. So this movie really lets me lean into both concepts.”

So…sharks with missiles on their backs? That sounds incredibly scary to us.

Aquaman splashes theaters in December.

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