Minor spoilers ahead for Justice League.
It's been less than a week since Zack Snyder's Justice League finally arrived in theaters, uniting the heroes of the DC Extended Universe for a fun and exciting big screen adventure. The blockbuster expanded the shared universe by leaps and bounds, introducing a ton of new setting, characters, and heroes for future films. But a ton of material also ended on the cutting room floor, especially when it comes to Jason Momoa's Aquaman. In the brief scene in Atlantis, we saw Amber Heard's Mera form a bubble around she and Arthur, so they could speak underwater.
But it turns out that this isn't a rule director James Wan is carrying over to the Aquaman movie. He recently revealed this on social media, saying:
Sorry Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder, because it looks like the Conjuring director has his own ideas about how Atlanteans manage to communicate below the surface. After all, not every member of the underwater community has Mera's hydrokinetic powers.
Aquaman probably got the most raw deal out of the new heroes introduced in Justice League. While it seems like plenty of footage was recorded, Joss Whedon's reshoots and the studio's determination to keep the film short in length resulted in massive cuts. Atlantis was only seen for a few brief moments, and Willem Defoe's character was cut from the film completely.
But there is a silver lining in Aquaman's role being cut down in Justice League. Because Atlantis only appeared briefly, James Wan is free to make creative decisions with Aquaman, free from consequences for the larger shared universe. Casual audiences will certainly not remember Mera's air bubble move, so Wan can make his decision on how Atlanteans communicate in the underwater kingdom. It should be interesting to see how Wan approaches this, and how much CGI is used in order to give the illusion of being underwater. Filming the scenes already seems like a technical nightmare, so fans' interests have certainly been peaked.
James Wan will have the ability to translate Aquaman's world into live-action for the very first time in his solo film. While the hero has historically been a bit of a joke amongst DC fans, Wan and his muse Jason Momoa are making Aquaman more badass than we ever could have imagined. It should be interesting to see how Aquaman's various powers are translated in Aquaman. Will he finally speak to fish? Will he ride a giant sea horse? How about Aquaman's signature hook? We'll just have to wait until 2018 to get answers. But considering Wan's fantastic history with the horror genre and Fast and the Furious franchise, he's got what it take to bring the Atlantean King to the silver screen.
Justice League is in theaters now, and Aquaman will arrive a year on December 21, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
