Getting Deep with ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ Director James Wan

It’s not every day we get a 1:1 with a director as prolific as the amazing James Wan! The creator of The Conjuring Universe, as well as the visionary behind the DCEU’s first (and only) billion dollar blockbuster is back in the director’s chair for this Christmas’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. And we were able to sit down with the icon himself for an in-depth interview about the upcoming blockbuster sequel.

The first Aquaman movie was a real blast! And since taking on the role, star Jason Mamoa has become a total household name. And part of its success can be attributed to Wan’s wonderful decision to step away from the self-serious, overly gritty demeanor of Zack Snyder’s original DCEU vision, and embrace the colorful fun of the comics. Remember, this is a badass character that lives in a colorful world filled with drumming octopuses, who can talk to fish and ride sea dragons. So it was an absolute honor to chat with him about how he planned to up the stakes of the second installment, and where he hopes the franchise goes from there.

NOC: Hi James! I’m Mike Manalo from The Nerds of Color. How are you?

JAMES WAN: Hi Mike! Good to see you, mate! Happy to talk to you.

Thank you so much! It’s an honor to talk to you. You’re one of my favorite directors working today. And whenever I hear your name I get excited about any project you’re working on.

Thank you!

Absolutely. So obviously, the first movie was a huge phenomenon. And the first DCEU movie to cross $1B. So I have to ask, did the success of that first movie ever impact any of the creative decisions you made making The Lost Kingdom?

No. At least not in a negative way. We were allowed to make the movie we wanted on the first film, and we pretty much went down the same path with this one. I really see The Lost Kingdom as an extension of the first movie. It really is the Part 2 or Part B, to the first, to “A.” So it was easy to roll into it… If you put the two movies back to back it plays like one big film.

I’m glad to hear that because I wanted to see more after that first movie. And seeing this as an extension of that gets me excited. I know this story is really about Orm and Arthur; this story about really uneasy love and potentially redemption for Orm. I gotta ask, why was that such an important story for you to prioritize for this installment?

To answer that I’m going to backtrack a little to the first movie. Arthur’s journey in the first movie… he’s a bit of a lost soul. He’s trying to find his place in the world. And we felt like for his journey, his character arc, it was important that the main antagonist in the first movie should be someone who is family. So his half-brother, who is King of Atlantis, felt like the perfect villain for him to antagonize with. But at the same time… Orm in the comic book — sometimes he’s a bad guy, sometimes he’s a good guy, and he would help Arthur out. And we felt like that’s a great hero’s journey for Orm as well… and so the second movie is more of a redemptive story for him. To kind of prove even though he’s a villain in the first movie, his heart was in the right place and he was only trying to protect his people. Which is understandable. And so we felt that was a really good story to tell. And ultimately, we thought it would be really fun to see Patrick and Jason together in a movie that’s more of a buddy movie. A buddy, road movie, if you will. Because Jason plays his character very loose. He shoots from the hip. Makes things up as he goes along. Whereas Patrick’s character is the polar opposite of that. He’s very strict, very rigid, very structured with how he approaches things. And just that contrast makes it fun to see it between the two of them.

I’m so excited to see that dynamic because you work really well with Jason, but you especially work really well with Patrick. All of your collaborations have been wonderful. So getting more of Orm will be a treat for me. Were there ideas from the first movie, and the cancelled Trench movie that you weren’t able to put into either of those projects, which inevitably found their way into this movie?

I can definitely tell you that I wanted Topo a lot more in the first movie — the drumming octopus — but we just couldn’t find the real estate to put him in. So myself and [David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick] made it our mission to get Topo into this film. And Topo… definitely has a real presence, a real character in this one. So we were able to bring him along for the journey… The other thing was The Trench was supposed to be a secret Black Manta story, and so we came up with a lot of Black Manta’s backstory that we really liked, and his character stuff. And we just took that and put it into this movie. Because this second movie, The Lost Kingdom, is ultimately a Black Manta revenge story.

If I can ask one final question. Many are calling this the culmination of the DCEU. As DC cinema enters a new era. Is that how you see Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom? And would you want to be part of the new era? For example, the upcoming Swamp Thing movie, given your history with your excellent Swamp Thing TV series?

You know firstly, we’re pretty fortunate that within the Aquaman world, that it’s such a unique universe he lives in…. Whatever these guys are doing with the new greater DC Universe, that we aren’t affected by it. If you go back and watch the first movie, it’s such a contained story. And fortunately for us, it meant we could continue with this movie within its own world, and sort of focus on that, and not be affected by anything else that’s going on.

In regards to Swamp Thing, I’m a big fan of the series that we did. I don’t know what’s going to happen over there. But they have a lot of characters, and Swamp Thing is one I’d definitely love to see on the big screen. Whoever makes that, I’ll be excited to see it, as a fan!

I’m excited for that too, but I’m *really* excited for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. And as a fan of yours, I know you’re going to crush it, and it’ll be even more amazing than the first one. Thank you James!

Thank you! Appreciate it. See you next time!

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom hits theaters December 22, 2023!