Update: June 7, 2016
James Wan Reveals He Chose to Direct AQUAMAN Over THE FLASH
It was almost one year ago to the date that James Wan was announced as the director of Warner Bros.‘ upcoming
Aquaman feature film, but in a new interview, the director reveals he was given the choice between the King of Atlantis and another hero.
“They asked me which of the two characters I’d be interested in and it was between
The Flash and Aquaman,” Wan tells
Uproxx. “This is how I weighed it: For me, we’ve seen various versions of
The Flash… There’s a popular show on TV and there was a great one in the ‘90s… But the thing that ultimately pushed me more towards
Aquaman is I love the possibility of creating a whole new world. I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom. And also, I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. [Laughs.] I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him!”
Wan also revealed that it wasn’t his work on the $1.5 billion-grossing
Furious 7 that landed him in consideration for the film, but instead it was his 2013 horror film
The Conjuring.
“I had already had a lot of conversations with Warner Bros. and they knew very early on that I had said I would love to be a part of the DC Universe… This is back in the early days when
The Conjuring was just about to come out… We’ve been talking about it for awhile.”
James Wan Reveals Why He Picked Aquaman Over The Flash as His DC Project
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Update: March 28, 2016
James Wan Says AQUAMAN Will Have a Fun Tone and Possible Sea Monsters
With the dark and gritty tone of Zack Snyder's
Batman v. Superman being criticized by many, Director James Wan was asked what the tone of Aquaman will be. "The kind of filmmaker that I am, even my darker horror films generally are still very fun," the talented filmmaker told
IGN. "And I think that's important for me and the kind of films I make.
"I think Aquaman is a character that a lot of people have made fun of over the years, and I just think it's fun to actually show a really different, cool, badass side to this character," he added. "But the same time, let's not forget to have fun with it."
"I would love to capture the fun spirit of high-sea adventures, treasure hunts, sea monsters," Wan told the
L.A. Times. "That’s the spirit that I’m going for. Swashbuckling."
"There’s always something kind of cool about Aquaman still, the idea of creating a huge world that is on our planet. He’s from our planet and he’s from a society that we’re not privy to in the context of the story. Isn’t it crazy to think that we’ve explored space more than we have explored the depths of our ocean? That just fires up my imagination about potential sea monsters and cool creatures, that kind of stuff," Wan explained to
Slashfilm.
"Well, I think the story that I would like to tell is still at the end of the day my story," Wan told
Cinema Blend. "And that’s what’s cool with Zack [Snyder], is that he’s actually very respectful of that. He’s actually helping me out in some ways with certain things that he’s doing with his [films] so that I can have better groundwork with the standalone
Aquaman story."
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Update: January 13, 2016
Amber Heard to Play Mera in AQUAMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE
Amber Heard is in negotiations to join Warner Bros.’s DC Universe. If a deal makes, Heard will star opposite Jason Momoa as the female lead in
Aquaman, several sources tell
The Hollywood Reporter.
She will make her appearance first in
Justice League, the movie that introduces various characters and story threads to fully launch the cinematic universe based on the DC Entertainment characters. Heard will play Mera, the love interest of Aquaman and eventual queen of Atlantis. First appearing in 1963, the character’s powers include the ability to control and even solidify water.
James Wan is attached to direct
Aquaman, which is being undergoing a dual track development, meaning that there are two separate scripts that are being worked on concurrently.
Heard, last seen in
Magic Mike XXL, is on screen with Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in awards player
The Danish Girl. She also has crime thriller
London Fields in the can.
[Update: ET confirmed that the Amber Heard has been cast as Mera, the undersea queen and wife of Aquaman in the DC Comics canon. Heard will make her first appearance as Mera in 2017's
The Justice League Part One before appearing in the 2018 standalone
Aquaman film opposite
Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa.
The actress exclusively dished to ET's Katie Krause about her sea queen costume. "It's interesting. It's like, half suit of armor, half scales," Heard revealed. "It's strange... We're in the process of building it now, so it's coming along."]
Amber Heard in Talks to Star in 'Aquaman,' Her Character Will First Appear in 'Justice League' (Exclusive)