In an interview with Comicbook.com, Director James Wan goes into detail with regards to why he wanted Aquaman to be different from the rest of the DCEU. Wan candidly shares why he wanted Aquaman to be made in the first place as well.
It is not usual to see directors build up and hype their films months before their release, it’s another thing to offer insights into the pre-production of the film.
In his interview, Wan discussed how important it was to not just make a standard run of the mill superhero movie with Aquaman, but rather something special. He went in depth as to why Aquaman had to stand on his own after being seen in Justice League next to DC’s famous trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
“It was very important for me early on to be allowed to make my own film and to have my own voice be in there. After Furious Seven and Conjuring 2, I didn’t want to be a director for hire. After Furious Seven, that’s kind of who I was to some degree, but after that, I don’t want to be that guy again. So, it was very important for me to be able to bring my own stamp, my own visual aesthetic, create the characters. Even though Jason [Momoa] has somewhat been established Justice League, I wanted to bring his character into this, basically, fresh in a lot of ways. So it was important for me to obviously pay a respect to where he was left off in [Justice League], but then allow me the freedom to take him to where I want to take him at the end of the movie. My hero goes on this hero’s journey to become someone very different than where he started. That was something that was very important for me. But the movie I want to make, that I was allowed that freedom to do that.”
As for the movie itself, many fans are wondering how close to the rest of the DCEU Aquaman is going to be. By all indications, it does not look like it’s going to be case, with Wan opting for a movie set apart from the burden of having to tie into a larger universe. He had this to say:
“The good thing about not necessarily involving the other characters [Justice League], I can kind of do whatever I want in this story, in this world, and not be beholden to what somebody else is making. And vice versa, not have someone else be beholden to what I’m doing. What I’m doing is very circular to the world of Aquaman.”
Wan had this to say as well:
“I definitely got to create a massive part. I really think what has been really fun, and I think for moviegoers, not just the fans, is when they see this film, they’re not just seeing a world of DC. They’re literally seeing a world within Aquaman itself. Just within the world of Aquaman, just creating the different kingdoms, like the different world, the machines that drive the world. They transport the animals that live in this underwater world and all that stuff. So I’ve never made a movie that is so heavily designed to this extent, and it was really awesome just being able to come up with really interesting things, and just run with it. And when the film comes out, I think you’re going to see how crazy big it is.”
