Just last week, we told you that Warner Bros and DC‘s The Flash movie found its new director in Dope‘s Rick Famuyiwa, taking the place vacated by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith. It seems finding the right fit for the movie version of the famous red-clad speedster played by Ezra Miller was a harder task than expected, seeing as one potential director flatly turned them down…to direct another DC movie. The Conjuring 2 director James Wan revealed in an interview with Uproxx that he was offered the chance to direct The Flash, but opted for Aquaman instead.
It may seem a particularly odd choice—picking a movie based on one of DC’s more historically derided heroes over one of its most popular—but that’s exactly the thinking behind the choice, explained Wan in the interview. “The thing that ultimately pushed me more towards Aquaman is I love the possibility of creating a whole new world. I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom.”
That’s a pretty noble goal, and it’s true; the Flash is from Central City, traditionally one of the most normal cities in the whole DC Universe, while Aquaman is the ruler of a whole giant underwater kingdom. Build that kingdom, James!
Wan also said that Aquaman’s perceived silliness in the public eye also led to him choosing that character to shepherd to the big screen. “I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. [Laughs.] I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him!” And having the character played by the personified pec flex that is Jason Momoa will certainly help make people not want to make fun of it.
Despite these very good reasons, we can’t help wonder about what a James Wan-directed Flash movie would have been. He’s already proven he can do velocity with the best of them by directing Furious 7 last year. Maybe there’ll be an ocean race between Atlanteans riding beluga whales. We can dream, right?
What do you think about an Earth 2 where James Wan did direct The Flash? Let us know your fan fic in the comments below!
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Image: Warner Bros
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and a DC Fanboy for life. Follow him on Twitter!
