James Wan

Sadly, it’s not ‘Aquaman 2 the Streets.’

You’re going to have to hold your breath for a whole two extra months before Jason Momoa’s Aquaman makes his solo debut.

Things are heating up for the Justice League lately. We’ve got two new photos of the team in action (which mainly involves just standing around in costume), and now the Aquaman gang has gotten together for their first reading of the script. Director James Wan posted a photo on his Twitter account of him palling around with Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, and the hero himself, Jason Momoa.

The Mad Max: Fury Road stunt crew sure made a name for themselves during George Miller’s return to his post-apocalyptic road movie series. Miller made it a point to have as much real effects as he could in the movie, and his stunt team was the best of the best. They even figured out how to do stunts practically that Miller was planning on using CGI for. Now, the stunt team will ride shiny and chrome once again, but instead of Valhalla, they’re heading to Atlantis.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a director in possession of frequent collaborators, once hired to direct a superhero film, will probably feature his collaborators in said film. Rick Famuyiwa, back when he was set to helm the Flash movie, brought on Kiersey Clemons, whom he directed in Dope; Taika Waititi is bringing Sam Neill, who starred in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, into Thor: Ragnarok. Now, James Wan, who directed Patrick Wilson in both Conjuring movies, has cast him as Orm in Aquaman.

Listen. I know that the DC Cinematic Universe gets a lot of criticism for its dour visuals and themes, but let’s give credit where credit is due: Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is really shaping up like the sleeper hit of the whole endeavor. With a visual aesthetic stolen directly from an episode of Sons of Anarchy  —  and perhaps the most talented director of the Warner Bros. slate behind the camera  —  this is shaping up to be the best movie about people who talk to fish since Disney’s animated adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

The ages-old query of “So, who were your influences on the film?” still appears regularly in interviews following a big-name movie’s release. But in recent years, directors have started to name the films they drew from before the premiere as a way of drumming up anticipatory buzz. At the Star Wars Celebration in London earlier this year, Episode VIII director Rian Johnson name-checked Bridge on the River Kwai, Three Outlaw Samurai, Letter Never Sent, and 12 O’Clock High as points of reference for the next Star Wars picture. The initial public response went along the lines of “lol what the hell are you talking about,” but eventually cooled into “Alright, can’t front, that sounds pretty awesome.”

The DC Extended Universe has some slam dunks (Justice League!) and some real risks. I would put Aquaman in the latter category. Previously best known as the guy on Super Friends who talks to fish, and so goofy a hero he was the butt of an extended joke about dumb Hollywood movies on Entourage, the King of the Seven Seas will headline his own movie in 2018 after he gets a proper introduction in next year’s Justice League. (Showing up on Wonder Woman’s computer screen in Batman v Superman doesn’t count.)

Last fall, it was reported that Warner Bros. had hired The Conjuring 2 scribe David Leslie Johnson to write the screenplay for Aquaman, which would reunite him with director James Wan. It looks like that didn’t exactly work out, as WB has now tapped Gangster Squad writer Will Beal to pen the screenplay based on a story treatment by Wan and DC’s Geoff Johns.

It was big news last week when Dope director Rick Famuyiwa was tapped to make the big-screen adaptation of DC Comics’ The Flash. Famuyiwa replaced Seth Grahame-Smith, who was originally supposed to make his directorial debut on the project, but later dropped out over “creative differences” with Warner Bros. But this whole scenario may not have played out if not for a decision made by a third filmmaker a few years ago.