What lies beneath the drenched surface of Warner’s Aquaman movie?
A sci-fi fantasy film, according to writer-director James Wan, who plans to thrust viewers into a rich, underwater world this December. And he’ll do so in style, based on the buzz surrounding Aquaman‘s imminent trailer reveal.
But after the CGI-laden clusterfuck of Justice League, Wan hopes to rein in the focus to Arthur Curry and his fraught relationship with Patrick Wilson’s Orm the Ocean Master, his human half-brother who’s plotting a military coup from the shadows of Atlantis.
Wilson is no stranger to James Wan’s oeuvre, having starred in The Conjuring and its spooky sequel, The Enfield Poltergeist. And this time around, his character will help give the story its emotional heart:
“Black Manta is a really interesting character who is somehow factored into this story but our main story is about Jason and Patrick,” said Wan.
Speaking of Black Manta, we know Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been cast as the underwater space pirate, and earlier today, Entertainment Weekly made waves by unveiling our first glimpse at Aquaman‘s chief antagonist. Spoilers: it’s a doozy.
Here’s how James Wan describes Black Manta to EW:
He’s part mercenary but full-time pirate who in his suit will look like some crazy alien from outer space.
Suffice it to say, we don’t envy Jason Momoa’s Atlantean, who must confront his own demons before putting an end to Orm’s military coup before things get out of hand. By his side will be Mera (Amber Heard) and Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the amicable ruler of DC’s underwater utopia.
Expect Aquaman to crash onto these shores on December 21st. And the first trailer? It’ll likely be with us tomorrow, June 15th.