Space is big, but underwater adventures can be just as expansive. That's what Aquaman makes clear, and to accomplish that, director James Wan looked to Star Wars for inspiration. CBR had the chance to sit down with Wan and talk about his goals for the film.
"I always wanted to do a world-building movie, a world-creation movie, and this property really allowed me to do that and have fun with it," Wan told CBR. Of course, he's no stranger to the concept of a cinematic universe, but this was his first time working on a project of this scope. When it came to world-building, Wan knew he would have to turn to the best.
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Wan confessed that he was influenced by "what George Lucas did with Star Wars" when he was developing his DC superhero flick. This was about more than just punching the bad guy and showing off a superhero costume - it was about creating an entire world. "In a lot of ways," he said, "this was sort of my underwater version of [Star Wars]."
And just like Lucas' franchise before it, Aquaman includes influences from many different genres. It brings together elements of fantasy, science fiction, adventure, horror and other genres, because -- as the filmmaker explains -- "it's not the kind of movie where you can sort of shoot from the hip."
"[Star Wars] had so many influences in it. It was samurai, cowboy, western, fantasy and science fiction" all rolled into one, which is something he tried to do with his underwater epic. However, the usage of multiple genres in Aquaman isn't all George Lucas-inspired. After all, "all those different genres are all in the comic books" as well.
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Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, 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 opens on Dec. 21.