Of all the DC films currently set to hit theaters over the course of the next few years, the one that seems to have the most coherent sense of direction and least turbulent development process is James Wan's Aquaman. Enthusiasm for Jason Momoa's take on Arthur Curry is high, and the film already sounds like it's going to be a ton of fun. In fact, Momoa recently explained that Aquaman will set itself by combining traditional blockbuster fun with an environment and setting that moviegoers haven't seen before. Momoa said:
I read the (Aquaman) script and let me just put it this way, I've never seen a movie that's anything like this. It's going to be a world that you've never seen before, which is really cool. We went to space, we traveled all over different worlds, but we never went underwater. So it's just a really cool spin on what's below and it uses a lot of great movies that I already love --- whether that be Raiders of the Lost Ark to Star Wars to Lord of the Rings to Romancing the Stone. It has a lot of really cool adventure, it's funny and heroic, and there's a lot of different characters and a lot of different worlds that we get to go to.
I think it says something about the current state of the superhero genre that Aquaman is looking to all of these older and more classic adventure movies to find some freshness. Nevertheless, I am completely on board with Jason Momoa's overall description of the film, given during an interview with Digital Trends. We have never seen a realm like Atlantis explored in a live-action movie before, which inherently lends a sense of mystery and artistic opportunity to the movie. After all, we've seen outer space, crime-ridden cities and even historical period settings in comic book movies. With Atlantis, James Wan and Jason Momoa have an opportunity to break the mold. If you ask me, those are all qualities that DC needs right now.
It doesn't hurt that Aquaman has assembled a downright phenomenal cast to deliver this superhero adventure. In addition to Jason Momoa as the titular aquatic hero, Aquaman has also enlisted the talents of Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta and Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry. With that cast and such a unique tone and setting at its disposal, all eyes are on Aquaman to become one of the best DC movies in recent memory.
James Wan's Aquaman will splash its way into theaters on October 5, 2018.
Jason Momoa's Aquaman will make his proper debut in the DC Extended Universe when Zack Snyder's Justice League hits theaters later this year on November 17. You can catch a glimpse of his character in the official San Diego Comic-Con trailer on the next page!
