Before Aquaman director James Wan leapt into the DC Extended Universe, he famously kicked off the Conjuring universe, which has since inspired multiple sequels and spinoffs, including the Annabelle movies, The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona. Wan will now give his underwater epic the spinoff treatment too, as he’s developing The Trench.
In Aquaman, Arthur and Mera venture cross paths with The Trench during one of the most visually stunning and horrifying segments of their adventure. The Trench is the deepest part of the ocean that inhabits the same-named monsters, which was once one of the seven Atlantean kingdoms. They joined Aquaman’s fight against King Orm in the massive third act of the blockbuster.
Here’s what James Wan recently told ComicBook.com of his Aquaman spinoff:
We, you know, we're still deep in sort of crafting the script, crafting the story right now so I don't want to get into that too much, but definitely it's one that I really want to lean into the horror of it, so it's going to play more as a monster horror movie then it will as a superhero film, but it's still definitely part of the Aquaman world.
This is exciting! James Wan will go back to his horror roots for The Trench, while also continuing the vision he beautifully brought to the big screen with Aquaman. The spinoff will likely go deeper into the mythos of the creatures introduced in the DCEU success, but the timeline remains unknown.
Aquaman producer Peter Safran also previously said they were interested in exploring The Trench since the early concept process of the superhero origin. Once fans embraced Aquaman with its $1.1 billion box office haul, they decided to move forward with this spinoff idea. Safran also expects The Trench will hit theaters before Aquaman 2, which is set for 2022.
The Trench movie is a great idea for James Wan to play in both his worlds: horror and Aquaman. The filmmaker has expressed that he loved crafting the segment of the film with the Trench monsters because he could go all out and treat it like a sea monster movie. It will be interesting to see where he takes the franchise with this developing installment.
We’re already especially curious to know if Julie Andrews will reprise her role as Karathan in the spinoff! The Mary Poppins actress was a pleasant surprise to hear in the film and brought a new texture to the frightening creature as well. The decision to spin-off The Trench certainly shows that the DCEU has a lot of surprises up their sleeve and is responding to what has proven successful, while also taking some risks.
Before James Wan’s involvement with Aquaman expands, you can catch his Conjuring universe expand with Annabelle Comes Home. The third Annabelle installment has been met with mixed to positive reviews, ahead of it hitting theaters tomorrow, June 26.
