In relation to the traditional marketing of the average DCEU film, Aquaman is technically already late. The trailers for three of the five movies currently in the franchise arrived a full year before their official release dates and, though we are now just ten months away from the Atlantean’s December solo movie debut, we’ve yet to see anything resembling a promotional snippet. It’s definitely on its way, though, as an Instagram post from the film’s composer confirms.
Carlos Villalobos shared this week that he was in “trailer scoring heaven,” along with an image of his equipment and a screen showing a shot of Jason Momoa in full superhero mode. The inclusion of “aquaman” as a hashtag leaves no room for doubt as to which trailer the composer is specifically referencing and we imagine it’s just a matter of time before some footage swims online.
It could be argued that this Instagram post essentially forms part of the marketing drive for Aquaman – an endeavour which has thus far taken an unconventional route. We’ve known that Jason Momoa would play the titular role since 2014 – two years ahead of that briefest of first glimpses contained within 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. In the interim years, director James Wan has been periodically teasing fans with his own social media posts – simultaneously assuring potential audiences that cast and crew are working hard on the project, while giving tantalizing hints at what to expect. This has also been boosted by Comic-Con appearances and interviews by Momoa in particular.
Undoubtedly, this approach has meant that the primary purpose of a movie trailer – raising audience awareness of a film – has already been served by alternative methods, over an unusually long stretch of time. The result is that anticipation for the first real trailer is at extremely high levels and this tease from composer Carlos Villalobos is only stoking that fire.
Most frustratingly, there’s no indication as to how much work is left to finish the preview, nor any confirmation of when it will actually arrive. What is clear, however, is that when it does finally appear – perhaps attached to the March Warner Bros. releases of either Tomb Raider, or Ready Player One – Aquaman will command a huge amount of attention, and deservedly so.