‘Aquaman’ director James Wan described Jason Momoa’s character as the DC Extended Universe’s (DCEU) version of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine from the X-Men. Wan also praised Momoa as a “brilliant” casting choice.
During an interview with IGN, Wan talked about some details of his upcoming superhero film based on DC comics’ telepathic ruler of Atlantis. When asked about Momoa’s approach to the character Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman, Wan replied, “Yeah, I actually think it's a brilliant move on Zack and co. to cast someone like Jason. Immediately, the whole joke aspect of Aquaman goes out the window. You have such a muscular, superhero-y character and one that is almost, to me, in some ways...”
He continued, “I look at him, he's kind of the Wolverine in some respect. He's the outsider who gets pulled into this world and he kind of doesn't want to belong and he was doing his own thing. And he prided freedom above everything else. That kind of plays nicely into who his character is. He's like a reluctant superhero, right? He's the reluctant king, basically, or would-be king.”
Wan’s upcoming action-adventure and fantasy film is intended as Aquaman’s first standalone film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Momoa will be introduced into the DCEU in Zack Snyder’s upcoming ‘Justice League’ film, where he will star alongside Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman, Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent a.k.a. Batman, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash, and Ray Fisher’s Victor Stone a.k.a. Cyborg.
When asked about Black Manta being the main villain in the film, Wan only replied, “Dude, you know I can't tell you that! [Laughs] Come on! As much as I want to share this with you, I can't do that this early on.”
It was previously speculated that Black Manta will serve as the upcoming film’s primary antagonist to face off with the titular superhero, according to the Independent. The fictional supervillain first appeared in the comic book ‘Aquaman #35’ published in 1967. He has a deep-seated hate for Aquaman and the sea but his origin story remains a mystery.
‘Aquaman’ is an upcoming action-adventure and science-fiction film based on DC’s iconic superhero of the same name. The film is intended as the seventh installment in the DCEU scheduled to be released on July 27, 2018.
