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.”
The underwater film will star Jason Mamoa as the title hero with Amber Heard set to play his wife, Mera, who is making her debut as the Queen of Atlantis in the upcoming Justice League movie. Aquaman is set for release July 27, 2018.
