Ever since we saw the first Aquaman trailer at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, we’ve been very excited about the vibrant world that James Wan is crafting. As we move closer to the December 9 release date, we were lucky enough to get to visit Wan in his editing bay at the Warner Bros. lot. Wan is clearly incredibly excited about his vision for Atlantis and the wild characters who inhabit it, but as we discovered when we spoke to Wan he’s also a huge fan of the comic books that first brought Arthur Curry to life.
The clips that we saw hinted at a story that takes heavily from Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ reimagining of the half-human half-Atlantean Aquaman during the New 52 era of the character, something that Wan confirmed. “I’m a big fan of what Geoff and Ivan did together,” the director said. “So definitely the umbrella sort of spirit of the story was inspired by Geoff Johns’ run from the New 52.”
The contemporary comics weren’t Wan’s only influence, though, as he enthusiastically shared his love for classic comics as well, including the Silver Age work of Nick Cardy. “I actually went back to a lot of the earlier Aquaman,” Wan said. “I kind of looked back historically at the different characters and the different worlds. I’m a really big fan of the silver age Aquaman stuff, the early series, the stuff which ended up inspiring Super Friends and the Aquaman TV series, I love that! So I thought I wasn’t going to shy away from that. I was going to embrace it and do my own version of it. I just love that retro quality that the original comic book had, all these really fun characters, and I wanted to find a way to fit them into the movie.”
From what we’ve seen of the film so far, including the trailers, our sneak peeks, and the fantastic roster of characters, it’s clear that Wan is taking heavily from the classic Aquaman comics. Arthur Curry was always raised by a single father, part of his golden age origin that dates back to his first appearance in 1941’s More Fun Comics #73. Tom Curry, who in the film is played by Temuera Morrison, was properly introduced as a lonely lighthouse keeper at the start of the Silver Age in Adventure Comics #260 in 1959.
The same legendary story by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon saw the debut of Nicole Kidman’s Atlanna, an exiled Atlantean who washed ashore and found love with the human lighthouse keeper. Mera, who’s being brought to life by Amber Heard, was a peak Silver Age addition to the lore and made her debut in Aquaman #11 in 1963. Wan also shared a classic creature cameo with us that’s sure to make Aquaman fans very, very happy. But we’ll keep that one a secret.
Images: DC Entertainment
