Aquaman Hires James Wan to Direct, and the Official Synopsis Is Revealed

Jason Momoa is set to play Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and he will reprise the role for a spin-off of his own. That’s pretty much the gist of what we’ve known about Aquaman for a while, until now.

Warner Bros. Pictures made an announcement that James Wan (Furious 7) will direct the upcoming Aquaman film. In the same press release, they also revealed a synopsis for the movie, which is certainly welcome.

Here’s what the press release had to say (with the boring quotes cut out):

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that director James Wan (“Furious Seven,” “The Conjuring”) will take the helm of the Studio’s upcoming Aquaman feature film, with Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”) starring as the sea-dwelling Super Hero.

Wan will also be supervising the script by Kurt Johnstad (“300,” “300: Rise of an Empire”). The film is being produced by Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder.

An icon for over 70 years, Aquaman is the King of the Seven Seas. This reluctant ruler of Atlantis, caught between a surface world constantly ravaging the sea and Atlanteans looking to lash out in revolt, is committed to protecting the entire globe.

Currently set for a 2018 release, the film is based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.

What Does This Tell Us?

Anyone can regurgitate a press release, what does this actually tell us about Aquaman?

As we know from the comics — and have confirmed in the synopsis — Aquaman is King of the Seven Seas and rules over Atlantis. What we can gather is that outside forces will be pressuring the Atlanteans, potentially causing them to revolt. Aquaman will be caught in the middle, torn between defending his people or protecting surface dwellers from danger. It’s vague, I know, but it’s what we have to work with for now.

I may be taking liberties here, so if you feel that analysis is off by all means share your own.

We’ll get to see him first in Dawn of Justice when it hits theaters on March 25, 2016. It’s also likely we’ll see him again in Justice League: Part One on November 10, 2017 and Part Two on June 14, 2019. Sandwiched between those two films will be Aquaman’s standalone title.

Aquaman first appeared in 1941’s More Fun Comics #73, which was created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger. Eventually, Aquaman became a founding member of the Justice League, which explains why we’ll see him in the Justice League films.

Knowing all of this, it’s difficult to say how the timeline is going to play out. The Justice League will likely be established at some point during Dawn of Justice, or proceeding the events of the film. Are the events that play out Dawn of Justice and Justice League: Part One to blame for the Atlantean revolt, or is something else the cause?