Aquaman’s $1 billion box office in 2018 ensured that Jason Momoa would be getting wet again as Arthur Curry. In a new interview,Aquamandirector James Wan explains where his greatest influence for the superhero sequel,Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, came from. In an interesting revelation, Wan said that the story for the movie was inspired byPlanet of The Vampires, a camp 60’s Italian sci-fi horror movie. With Marvel taking on a horror theme withDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems only right that DC give one of their upcoming movies a darker theme.
Aquamanhas already hinted at the horrors that live below the surface with the residents of The Trench. With these additional comments fromJames Wan, it looks like we are going to see a host of other dark creatures that reside in the depths, an aspect that the director believes will be something that fans will relish.
“Well, the first movie took a lot of people by surprise, right? And that’s partially because they were not familiar with the comic book, which deals in this very lurid, strange world… People were taken aback that I didn’t throw all that stuff away and make a dark, heavy film. But I didn’t feel that would have been right for it. So with the second film, I feel it will be easier for people to accept where we go because I’ve already laid the foundation.”
Wan’s inspiration,Planet of The Vampires, was a movie released in 1965, which was based on a short story,One Night of 21 Hours, and directed by Mario Bava. The film tells the story of a group of spaceship crew members who crash on a mysterious planet only to find that those who died in the crash become possessed by dark spirits. The movie was not exactly as serious as it sounds, especially when being watched now, and it is unlikely that Wan will keep the feeling of that movie, but brought into theAquamanworld it sounds likethere are dark times ahead for the Justice League’s sea dweller.
There has not yet been an official synopsis released for the movie, but with Wans new comments it sounds likewe are going to get something a little differentwithAquaman and The Lost Kingdom, something that we haven’t really seen in any recent DC movies. In the past, fans often complained that Warner Bros. have frequently skirted around many of the darker aspects of the comic books in favor of attempting to bring a style closer to the flashy and humorous Marvel Universe, which has often led to more failure than success.
Perhaps Wan’sdarker vision is exactly what the DC Extended Universe needsto give it a kick, and considering his previous work on iconic horror franchises likeSaw,InsidiousandThe Conjuring, when he says he is going dark, then you know that he is really going dark.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomwill be arriving in cinemas on August 10, 2025. This story comes to us from:collider
