Aquaman Director Reveals Inspiration for His Blockbuster Movie

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Aquaman is scheduled to hit the big screens across the United States this weekend. However, most of the world has already seen and enjoyed the spectacle that is the king of Atlantis. Unlike most DC movies, reviews of Aquaman seem to be different – there are more raves than criticism. Currently, the movie holds a respectable 70% on review aggregator websites –  a far cry from DC’s Justice League with 40%.

While the Us premiere is only a few days away, fans of the franchise can barely contain their excitement over the film. Thankfully, the director himself, James Wan, has given a glimpse of what Aquaman has in store.

James Wan, famous for his directorial role in Fast and Furious, recently sat down with Screenrant in order to hype his latest project. In the interview, Wan explained that coming into the DC universe wasn’t easy. He was very worried that he wouldn’t do an already established franchise justice:

“I think my biggest fear is the same as Fast & Furious 7, because you’re coming into an established world; and it’s always daunting to take on a big film, regardless of whether it’s a comic book movie or some other big films, there’s a lot of expectation going for it, because it’s not a small, little low-budget film, so there’s a lot riding off that. But I try not to let that cloud my brain too much or cloud my vision. I just sort of focus on the film I want to make and I do it.”

Nevertheless, he took reigns on the direction of the film. He revealed that much of Aquaman is inspired by the filmmakers he grew up admiring. While it was important to him to add his own flare, he admits that growing up in the 80s and 90s and idolizing giants like Spielberg, Lucas, and Burton did play a part on him developing Aquaman.

“I really think just, you know, growing up a child of the ’80s and ’90s. You know, just my love for filmmakers like Spielberg and Lucas and Tim Burton. And so, you know, when I finally get the chance to make my action-adventure film, I think a lot of what those guys had done had rubbed off on me in a big way. And that’s just sort of the spirit that I wanted to make this film with. I mean, even down to the musical score, I wanted to- my inspiration was Jean-Michel Jarre, Giorgio Moroder. So, very sort of ’80s sort of electronica. And Vangelis, of course, with what they did on Blade Runner. So, I really wanted that kind of flavor. But, in terms of the tone and the sort of visual look, I pulled all of that from the comic book” explained Wan during the interview.

DC’s Aquaman made its worldwide debut last November 26, 2018. The movie, which stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Defoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Kidman, is scheduled to premiere in the United States on December 21, 2018.