Aquaman 2: James Wan Couldn’t Wrap His Head Around Trying to Make a Dark Knight Version of The Movie That Defied Expectations
A lot of hope hinges on the last movie of Snyderverse and DCEU, Aquaman 2. The movie has been one of the most hyped films of the year, and all for good reasons. Its predecessor had managed to make a solid $1.152 billion at the box office, making it not only the highest-grossing DCEU movie ever, but also the highest-grossing film based on a DC Comics character as well.
Aquaman always stood out due to the generally dark and gloomy tone that usually presides over DC characters and films. His lighthearted jokes and quirks are one of the main driving forces behind it becoming so insanely popular among the audience despite the mixed reviews from critics. It is even more surprising that such a perfect mix of sunshine mixed with a hurricane came from James Wan, who is a pioneer of dark horrors at this point with Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, and many more horror classics under his belt.
James Wan did not want to make Aquaman 2 into a serious story like The Dark Knight
Even when appearing in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman stole the show with his silly, goofball humor that clearly struck a chord with the audience. This proved enough to immediately result in a standalone movie. The success of Aquaman broke a cycle in DC, that of brooding heroes who cannot get beyond their past trauma.
Recently, in an interview with SlashFilm, the director was asked why he feels like people are ready to embrace silly superhero stories like Aquaman, as it is clearly working at the box office. The director replied by saying that he could not wrap his head around making Aquaman 2 into something as serious as The Dark Knight. Especially when Aquaman did not have as long a legacy on screen as Batman or even his arch-nemesis, The Joker. Hence, he simply does not know how he can give Aquaman 2 the “realistic” Dark Knight portrayal some people might have been expecting.
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I got to be honest: I did not know how to do a realistic “Aquaman” movie. Do you know what I mean? With all of these things, I just could not wrap my head around that version. I mean, I am not quite sure if I would want to make “The Dark Knight” version of “Aquaman.” It’s different if your character has been around for a while and you’re trying to find different ways to reinvent the character.
He continued.
But it’s the first time out of the gate, at least cinematically on the big screen. We’ve never seen the Aquaman story, the Aquaman world, portrayed to that level.”
Also Read: Fans Increasingly Clash Over DCEU Arc as Jason Momoa’s Aquaman 2 Ends Snyderverse For Good
He also mentioned how he wanted to bring out the “quirkiest” side of Aquaman in the movie. The ocean is a dark, mysterious, and fantastical place. As a result, he wanted to bring out more sides to that in a way that would be “fun” and “uplifting.”
Aquaman 2 supposedly has one post-credit scene in the movie
Aquaman 2 is the last movie in the DCEU, as James Gunn and Peter Safran take hold of the franchise and revamp it into the DCU. Even though DC is saying its final goodbye to Snyderverse and wrapping up its Extended Universe, all the movies released from DCEU, like Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Black Adam, and The Flash, featured post-credit scenes.
Aquaman 2 had a special fan premiere event on Monday, December 18, at The Grove in Los Angeles, California. According to GOAT Movie Podcast’s Angel Amaral’s tweet, the movie features one post-credit scene. According to ComicBookMovie, the scene features Patrick Wilson’s Orm eating a burger. He spots a cockroach and picks it up, proceeding to eat it. The scene appears to be a reference to an earlier gag from the movie.
Aquaman 2 is all set to release on December 22, 2023.
