Even though the film version of Aquaman isn’t set to be released until 2018, pre-production is underway and James Wan is now set to direct it, as reported by Variety. With this mostly horror film director diverging from that path to direct Furious 7, this news is sure to excite fans of his work and fans of the superhero film genre. It’s clear that Wan knows how to direct big movies, and while it’s a surprise for him to go from making The Conjuring sequel to Aquaman, it’s sure going to make people look forward to it more.
With Jason Momoa cast as Aquaman and Kurt Johnstad (writer of the 300 films) set to write the script, adding James Wan to the list makes Aquaman look like it’s shaping up to be quite the superhero movie already. Yes, it will be coming out after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, but that is probably wise, since it will then serve as a relief from the two most depicted DC comics characters in film. There’s always a chance that the film could go down the route that the Green Lantern film took, but with an established director like Wan at the helm, that seems less likely to happen now.
Thankfully Wan is still working on horror films, despite his brief departure from the genre with Furious 7. The Conjuring 2: the Enfield Ghost is slated for a 2016 release and will be his return to horror films (the Insidious series will never be the same without him). While it is nice to see Wan drift to different genres, surely fans are hoping that his foray into bigger action movies won’t mean a complete departure from horror movies. Even so, it’s safe to say that there is definite hope that this Aquaman movie will be a worthy addition to the DC films that don’t suck.