Fresh off making his full DC Extended Universe debut in Justice League following his cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jason Momoa's Aquaman will be leading his own movie at the end of the year. Aquaman completed its principal photography last October, but as has become the norm with major Hollywood blockbusters, the DC movie has gone back for reshoots. As part of this extra filming period, Fresh Off the Boat star Randall Park has been added to the Aquaman cast as Dr. Stephen Shin, which director James Wan revealed on social media.
Reshoots on a movie can vary from making minor alterations to overhauling much of the story. Adding a brand new character to Aquaman is certainly a big change, but considering how important Dr. Stephen Shin was to Geoff Johns' run on the Aquaman comic book during the New 52, learning from James Wan on Twitter that Randall Park will play Shin in the DCEU is yet another way the movie will pull from the source material. Along with playing Louis Huang on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, Park's credits include The Interview, Veep, The Mindy Project, Trainwreck and Office Christmas Party. Aquaman won't be Park's only superhero movie appearance this year either, as he's also playing Jimmy Woo in Ant-Man and the Wasp, making him yet another actor to lend their talents to both DC and Marvel.
In the comics, Dr. Stephen Shin is the surface world's foremost expert on Atlantis, and when Arthur Curry (Aquaman) was a child, his father, Tom Curry, introduced him to Shin, who helped him hone his special abilities. However, Arthur and Shin's relationship fractured when the former refused to tell the latter where Atlantis was located, and Shin subsequently tried to kill Arthur. While he regretted his actions, Shin continued to be obsessed with finding Atlantis, so when Arthur went back to him for help with dealing with The Trench, the aquatic superhero was understandably cautious. In later issues, Shin morphed from being a frenemy to an important ally, but it's unclear how exactly Randall Park's Shin will be depicted in the Aquaman movie outside of being a learned man.
No specific Aquaman plot details have been revealed yet aside from the story being set after Justice League and showing Arthur Curry finally embracing his royal Atlantean heritage. Along with Jason Momoa and Randall Park, the main cast includes Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Patrick Wilson as Orm (a.k.a. Ocean Master), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Hyde (a.k.a. Black Manta), Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, Ludi Lin as Murk, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus and Michael Beach as Jesse Kane.
Aquaman dives into theaters on December 21, though UK audiences get to see it a week earlier. To learn more about what the DCEU has in development, look through our DC movies guide.
