Starting to get underwater Wakanda vibes.
After teasing it on social media for the past week, director James Wan has finally released the trailer for his upcoming DC outing, Aquaman, during Comic-Con.
Starring Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, the half-man half-Atlantean is getting ready to take his place on the ocean throne when, suddenly, his half-brother Arm (Patrick Wilson) decides he will be a better fit for royalty instead.
That leads to a giant underwater war, of course, full of giant fish, crustaceans and mayhem.
We also get some glimpses of Amber Heard as Mera, Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanta and Arthur’s human father, played by Temuera Morrison.
I wasn’t head-over-heels in love with the character of Aquaman after seeing what they did with him in Justice League. Momoa gives a fine performance and all, but he was pretty underdeveloped and I didn’t love the surfer vibe he gives off.
This Aquaman trailer, however, seems to suggest we might dig into that. I love the opening shots, when he’s a kid at an aquarium, more than anything, just because we’re finally getting to understand who he is as a character.
Once we actually arrive in underwater in Atlantis, things take a turn. There’s no denying that there’s a lot of Black Panther influence here, as this seems like an almost identical storyline.
That doesn’t mean it’s not pretty, though. The visual layout of Atlantis is really kinda great, even if some of the other CGI in there — i.e. Patrick Wilson — doesn’t look totally polished yet.
I’m not entirely convinced this is going to be the next Wonder Woman for DC (Lord knows they need another hit though), but we’ve only seen this one trailer, and I still have all the faith in the world in James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring) as a filmmaker. If he’s super excited about showing us this movie, then I’m going to be super excited about seeing it.
“I want our film to be a little different, a bit more unique, so to speak,” he told the crowd at Comic-Con. “So my movie in some ways plays more like a science fiction fantasy film than a traditional superhero movie.”
Aquaman swims into theaters Dec. 21.
What do you think? Are you impressed by this Aquaman trailer? Are you going to be seeing the movie? Let us know in the comments below!