How The Success Of Aquaman Let James Wan Go Fully Nuts With The Sequel [Exclusive]

The “absurd” aspects of “Aquaman” were what made it so much fun. Wan spoke about how the fact that he’d leaned into that in the first one allowed him to continue in that vein. He said:

“I think, from a creative standpoint, having done it in the first film, is really the idea that we can lean into the more absurd aspect of the Aquaman world or the sort of strange and quirky characters and the world itself. I feel like I don’t have to explain myself as much as I needed to on the first film. Having seen the first one, I think everyone collectively kind of [sad] ‘Oh yeah, yeah, we know what we’re doing now. Okay, cool. Let’s do that. Oh, I’m talking to a human shark. Yeah, I get it. Okay, that’s fine. I’m talking to an octopus who is on a secret mission with me. Okay, that’s cool.'”

That’s what made the whole thing so appealing. I love Aquaman, the ridiculous comic book character who commands fish and gets made fun of on “The Big Bang Theory.” Despite Momoa giving the role more gravitas (and clearly having a blast with it), the film version never lost that “fun” element. Plus, it had Topo, who we’re going to see again in “The Lost Kingdom.”