Aquaman: Will Arthur Curry Appear in The Trench Spinoff?

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Aquaman Producer Confirms If Arthur Curry Will Appear in Trench Spinoff

By Renaldo Matadeen

Published Mar 6, 2019

Aquaman producer Peter Safran revealed new details about The Trench spinoff, including whether or not Arthur Curry and Mera will appear.

Following James Wan's Aquaman becoming the most successful DC Extended Universe movie to date, Warner Bros. greenlit a spinoff revolving around the Trench. Now, we have confirmation that it will take place without Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Amber Heard's Mera.

Wan previously wouldn't confirm the spinoff, but Aquaman producer Peter Safran has revealed that it will take place after the first movie and is tentatively slated hit to theaters before Aquaman 2, which is lined up for December 2022.

"We always, even from the early concept art days, loved the idea of a Trench movie," Safran told The Hollywood Reporter at the opening of the Aquaman exhibit at Warner Bros. "Then, when audiences embraced it in the movie itself the way they did, particularly that ant farm shot where the camera follows the Trench [creatures] following Arthur and Mera down into the deep, we just knew that we had something very special there and we knew what that movie should be. And consequently, I suspect that that's one that will come out significantly before Aquaman 2.”

Wan said as much in the past, hinting that the DCEU would dive deeper into the dark aquatic realm that provided residence to exiled Atlanteans-turned-mutants. Obviously, plot details won't be forthcoming in these early stages, but it does leave fans wondering just who will be exploring this oceanic abyss if it won't be Arthur and Mera.

In the comics, the Trench debuted in 2011's Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. When Atlantis fell into the ocean, the people of the Trench settled in a trench near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, developing their own language and adapting to the conditions of their new home. As depicted in the film, they appear more animalistic, in that they do not speak and attack anything that enters their territory.

Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus and Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna. The film is now in theaters nationwide, and available in digital HD on today and Blu-ray and DVD on March 26.