It’s no secret that Wonder Woman is the superhero movie of the moment – and for very good reason, it seems – but with the cameras already rolling Down Under, DC fans are quietly beginning to keep a close eye on the standalone Aquaman outing.
Headed up by horror maestro James Wan – in fact, Arthur Curry’s solo movie will reportedly have a horror slant when it makes land late next year – Aquaman will herald the return of Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as DC’s King of the Seven, after he was first introduced to the grand DCEU via a small cameo role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. But if Zack Snyder’s titanic event movie handled the King of Atlantis rather poorly, Wan’s spinoff will look to portray Aquaman in a new light and maybe – just maybe – reinstate his status as a badass icon among the DC roster.
While we’re not likely to see anything official from the project for a while, as WB looks to keep the focus firmly on Wonder Woman and Justice League for the time being, rumor after rumor continues to crop up and today, a Reddit user has delivered a healthy dose of info on the flick, telling us that the major theme running through Wan’s effort will be that of family – appropriate really, given that the director was also behind Furious 7, which comes from a franchise that, at its core, is all about exactly that.
According to this latest report, both biological and adoptive family will be important themes in Aquaman, similar to how they were in Man of Steel and Wonder Woman. It’ll be a source of tension for Momoa’s Arthur Curry though, as he “struggles to deal with problems both in Atlantis and above the sea.” Adding to that is what are being described as “memory flashbacks,” which will cause the hero pain both emotionally and physically, “hinting at a traumatic history within his family.”
It’s not only the themes of Aquaman that we learned about today though, as a separate Reddit leak spilled some details on the costumes in the film. From Black Manta to Orm and even the titular Justice League member himself, take a read over the description below to see what look each of these characters will be sporting in the film.
From what I saw some of the early concept arts for most of the characters were VERY different from their comic-book appearance. Black Manta was very ‘techy’ but they are not using the ‘techy’ designs for the film as far as I know. One of the designs that impressed me the most was a jet black scuba suit with silver and red piping with bulletproof padding all over it. It did not have the signature helmet. Instead, it was a plain black mask with red goggles and an oxygen mask connected to 3 cylinders behind him. To achieve his signature look, they put a round red visor which is like a ring fixed to the behind of his head and is balanced on two cylindrical batteries on his shoulder pads. The round visors look like they can shoot lasers as they are fixed to batteries.
The design would’ve been super rad if it was used, but unfortunately the studio did not select the design. The rest are super close to his comic-book appearance. Most of the artists showed their creativity on the helmet.
Orm has translucent full face mask. The mouth part can open and close like Optimus Prime. The armor is similar to Aquaman’s but it has different patterns like Hexagons instead of triangles and is mostly red with some purple. Also, I think the movie has a lot of scenes before JL because from what I’ve seen in the concept arts, Orm has the ‘five-pronged trident’/pentadent which Aquaman is seen holding in the JL promotions.
I can also CONFIRM the fact that Aquaman has his classic orange and green suit only the orange has a gold shade to it.
As always, we’d advise taking both of these Reddit rumors with a pinch of salt. Warner Bros. has told us next to nothing about the hero’s solo outing so far and as such, we can’t confirm any of this. Still, it’s interesting to ponder over and the stuff about the family certainly seems plausible, as we’ve seen that same theme running through previous DCEU efforts and it’s something which seems to resonate well with fans.
Initially slated for October, Aquaman will now be with us on December 21st, 2018. It’s currently the only DC tentpole penciled in for next year, given that The Flash has all but vanished from Warner’s slate amid creative turbulence. Barry Allen’s solo outing is still alive and kicking, of course, but after losing both Seth Grahame-Smith and Dope helmer Rick Famuyiwa, the Scarlet Speedster has quietly retreated to the shadows. Perhaps the standalone pic will receive a new lease of life in the aftermath of Justice League? We’ll find out on November 17th of this year.