WB’s big move for the Worlds of DC this year will be the upcoming Aquaman film. James Wan is one of the most respected Directors currently working in Hollywood and people really love his craft. He has a big fan base and that is what may bring people to the theatres even if many fans may have lost hope with DC. As we saw in the trailer, he will introduce us to the beautiful underwater world of Atlantis and because of this unique never seen before the world, this upcoming film could turn out to be the best film DC has ever made.
People are really appreciating variety, diversification, and innovation with every new Superhero movie. That is why Wonder Woman worked. That is why Black Panther was insanely successful and that’s probably why Aquaman and Captain Marvel are also going to be major successes for DC and Marvel respectively. James Wan wanted Aquaman to be a movie that entirely stands upon its own and that is probably why so much of material that Zack Snyder shot with Aquaman for Justice League was actually edited as it would have differed with what Wan wanted to portray.
Here’s what director Wan told Comicbook.com about Aquaman being a very isolated film from the larger DCEU:
“It was very important for me early on to be allowed to make my own film and to have my own voice be in there. After Furious Seven and Conjuring 2, I didn’t want to be a director for hire. After Furious Seven, that’s kind of who I was to some degree, but after that, I don’t want to be that guy again. So, it was very important for me to be able to bring my own stamp, my own visual aesthetic, create the characters. Even though Jason [Momoa] has somewhat been established Justice League, I wanted to bring his character into this, basically, fresh in a lot of ways. So it was important for me to obviously pay a respect to where he was left off in [Justice League], but then allow me the freedom to take him to where I want to take him at the end of the movie. My hero goes on this hero’s journey to become someone very different than where he started. That was something that was very important for me. But the movie I want to make, that I was allowed that freedom to do that.”
Everything that Wan has introduced in this film is very closely inspired from the comics! If you look at Queen Atlana, King Atlan, Orm, Black Manta, Mera, The Trench and even the different races of the Atlanteans. In fact, the only person that seems to be a little different from the traditional comic book look is none other than Aquaman himself! Rest, James Wan’s take on the film just seems magical.
Everything is pretty logical. Wan’s talk with Comicbook.com also revealed detailed descriptions of three new scenes from the upcoming underwater adventure. One of those very interesting scenes happened to be a sequence where Orm and Arthur were going up against each other, and the Mera is forced to rescue Aquaman from the battle by opening a patch of air underwater. Her doing this actually causes Orm to actually struggle a bit and then vomit water immediately! James Wan revealed that there is proper logic and science involved behind this as well.
He said:
“Just from a practical standpoint, people ask me, when they talk, ‘Is it bubbles that come out of their mouth?’ No, ’cause there’s no air in your lungs, so there wouldn’t be any bubbles, right? Because you don’t do that, right? And, so, then, in that sequence, where you saw Mera open up this air pocket to suck Orm away from Arthur, help him out, now, when he’s breathing, the first thing he does is he using the air pockets, where he could get out all of the water that’s in his lungs.”
Another interesting aspect about the film was that none of the cast members were actually forced to shoot underwater sequences. CGI and VFX will obviously be involved to create the underwater world, but James Wan actually had various set pieces specially built to portray the underwater city. Wan explained the schematics of the way he shot the film:
“It is very difficult just trying to simulate that, the look of weightlessness that you would get under water, but we did tons of R&D very early on. With how people would move under water. We built props, we built sets, and we submerged everything under water, and we did tons of study just to see what things would look like. Ultimately, what we realize, is what we can do under water… We’re still very much limited by what we’re capable of doing, because we’re normal human beings. We’re not Atlantean, right? These guys, obviously, move very differently in a water space, in that space. To them, they’re basically like super heroes, but, for us, we swim slowly.”
Aquaman looks to be the film that will bring back the lost faith in the Worlds of DC. It comes out on December 21.
