When the first ever image of Jason Momoa's Aquaman came online, it was posted with a very simple message: Unite The Seven. At the time, it was unclear exactly what that meant, but we've since learned that it is part of the character's larger mission, namely uniting the seven underwater kingdoms. Obviously that's a pretty big deal, but if you were hoping to see all of those major areas in the character's upcoming solo film, you may want to tamper those expectations a hair, according to director James Wan:
I mean, seven kingdoms is a lot of kingdoms! And just right off the bat, you can tell that there's the world of Atlantis, which is where King Orm is, and where Arthur is technically the rightful ruler, and he's the rightful heir to the throne. And so we definitely touch on Atlantis, but then we also know that Dolph Lundgren's character is in there, as well, and he's the king of the kingdom of Xebel. So we know we touch on that. And in the trailer you see we touch on the world of the Trench. And we go out into the desert, so we touch on the Desert Kingdom as well. And I feel there are other surprises in there that I want to hold back.
Along with a small group of other journalists, I had the chance to visit the Aquaman edit bay a few weeks back, and it was during an extended sit down with James Wan talking about the film that I asked about the seven kingdoms. And while the director wouldn't go into full details about all of the special areas that audiences can expect to explore for the first time in the blockbuster, he also made it sound like there will be some material that is reserved for the sake of not making the story too unwieldy.
As James Wan explained, though, audiences can definitely expect to see some wild underwater worlds in Aquaman. The primary location will be Atlantis -- the most famous of the seven kingdoms -- but that's only a piece of the larger puzzle. Xebel is not only the region ruled by Dolph Lundgren's character, King Nereus, but it is also the home of Amber Heard's character, Mera, in the comics. The Trench, meanwhile, is the home of some seriously dangerous monster-esque fish creatures (the place where James Wan really gets to exercise his horror muscles again); and the Desert Kingdom is where Aquaman and Mera go in the film to learn about the King's Trident and how it can be used to bring the kingdoms together a.k.a. unite the seven (get it?)
So if those kingdoms are included, what areas didn't make it into the film? That's unclear for the moment, but answers are coming soon. Aquaman will be making its way into theater at the end of the year, namely on December 21st, and we'll have plenty more content about the blockbuster for you between now and then, so be sure to continue to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend.
