Australia’s famous Gold Coast has been playing host to Aquaman for the past few months, and during that time, budding DC fans have largely been kept in the loop thanks to a steady stream of set photos, not to mention those leaked videos showcasing Jason Momoa’s King of the Seven (and his co-stars!) in action.
Behind the lens for this one is James Wan, the esteemed filmmaker and all-around horror maestro who first made a name for himself through micro-budget scarefests in the vein of The Conjuring and Insidious. It didn’t take long before Hollywood executives took notice of Wan’s immense talent, either – Universal appointed him at the helm of Furious 7, which became the first entry in the petrolhead saga to cruise past $1 billion at the global box office.
The director has a great deal of experience in the blockbuster genre, then, and for Aquaman, he’s ready to up the ante. On board to help him achieve that vision – a vision that will purportedly portray Arthur Curry’s origin story as a family saga – are Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Ludi Lin as Murk, The Conjuring alum Patrick Wilson as Orm/Ocean Master, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, and Michael Beach as Jesse Kane.
There’s also Amber Heard as Mera, Queen of Atlantis, who can be seen in the new set photo below. It’s blurry and a bit hard to tell exactly what’s going on, but it would appear that the character is on the run from some Atlantean soldiers. Check it out for yourself and see what you make of it:
We obviously don’t know the context of this scene, but it’s great to get another look at the film regardless, given that it’s quickly becoming one of the DCEU’s most anticipated releases. Early buzz has been only of the positive variety and with a talented, exciting filmmaker behind the camera in James Wan, we fully expect the franchise to score another win when Aquaman swims into theaters on December 23rd, 2018.
Though that may seem far away, and admittedly, it is, moviegoers can look forward to Jason Momoa’s King of the Seven enlisting under the Justice League on November 17th of this year. Avengers director Joss Whedon is the one helping DC’s mega-budget ensemble movie across the finish line, after Zack Snyder was forced to vacate the director’s chair last month to tend to a personal tragedy. It’s by no means Whedon’s only contribution to the DCEU, though, given he’s signed on to write, direct, and produce a live-action Batgirl spinoff for Warner Bros., as well.