James Wan couldn't be in Hall H with his DC compatriots because he's too busy on the set of Aquaman to make the journey to San Diego Comic-Con. But he sent the best possible representative -- leading man Jason Momoa -- who also brought exclusive footage. Following a montage of concept art stills, which DID show Momoa's hero in the traditional orange and green Aquaman suit, the movie showed off a full reel of footage from the December 2018 Warner Bros. release? Want to read about what they showed?
The clip opens with two old men in a boat. They are fishing, and listening to the radio. One of the men hooks something in the water, and the two old men start joking about how big the "catch" might be. Well, it's massive. It starts pulling the boat, and the tug gets stronger and faster. Little by little, the front of the boat starts to go under the water, so the man holding the fishing rod finally lets go.
As the boat settles and the men grab their bearings, they see a robotic fin. It's meant to look like a shark, or possibly a dolphin. Only, it's not. It's the top of a ship. James Wan pulls back slowly and we get an aerial shot of the men in the boat. Underneath them is a ship. The ship is black and grey, with blue neon that goes all around the trim. It looks a little bit like a stingray. And it's not alone. There are several ships. Hundreds. The camera goes under the water, and we start to see the full armada. There are soldiers on single-rider sharks. It's a sight!
The scene cuts away. We see Jason Momoa. He's wet, and staring at... someone off screen. He twirls his trident around and says, "I don't suppose you want to talk about this, do ya? Well, neither did I?" Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze kicks in. And that's our first look at Aquaman!
After the Aquaman footage, Jason Momoa stayed on stage for the Justice League presentation, where he was joined by fellow superheroes Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher. And during the audience Q-and-A, a fan asked Momoa if the fleet of ships shown in the footage belonged to Black Manta, who will be played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. And Momoa, who prefaced it by saying he has no real problem revealing possible secrets to the Hall H crowd, admitted:
That's Ocean Master's army. Black Manta doesn't have anything on him. I'm going to be fighting my brother.
Ocean Master will be played in the Aquaman movie by Patrick Wilson, and while the characters have been at odds in the comics, this is the first real confirmation that he will be a major antagonist in the movies.
It was refreshing to see some new Aquaman footage, the first from James Wan's movie, which will be in theaters in December 2018. As part of the Hall H presentation, Warner Bros. rattled off a number of titles (and logos) that we expect serves as their upcoming slate. Head over here to see what's going on with that.
