It's a little while until Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to James Wan's Aquaman starring Jason Momoa as the eponymous sea superhero, hits screens. But we've been talking to Patrick Wilson, known for playing King Orm in the DC franchise, and he clued Collider in on the exciting new VFX technologies the production is using — but no, he wouldn't go into the plot.
First, we asked Wilson for his thoughts on shooting the first Aquaman. He says he thinks the franchise has found a "niche" amid the myraid of comic book films coming out at present, and that DC now knows where each film can fit, even with concepts like the "multiverse," — an overused term, he thinks — coming into dominance. In his words:
"So you take those things that you think people responded to, even if it was, "Oh my God, can you believe they did that?" Yeah, we did that. Now we're going to do more of that. I think we found our niche. I think DC has found their way to understand where each movie can fit, even in a multiverse, which is so overused now, as a term. Clearly the movie went beyond a fanboy demographic, because it made whatever; billion dollars, right? So that affords you a freedom of, "You know what? Let's keep it fun. Let's make it fun.""
Importantly, the Aquaman franchise and indeed the upcoming sequel isn't just for show. Wilson says it still has important things to say, despite being a comic book movie, and boasts great relationships between the characters. On top of that? Some amazing VFX advances, the likes of which we apparently haven't seen before. "We've got great relationships in the movie, some fantastic action sequences," he says. "We push all the fighting and the stunts… we've used crazy techniques between us and The Flash that have never been used before. So all these new VFX techniques that we're using." Very exciting, indeed.
But how about the plot? Well, he kept his lips firmly shut:
"And then storyline is... obviously not going to get into that. But James loves to pick and choose from his own mind and comics and how we bring in certain elements. Those little moments that even... I don't know, pick one in the gladiator sequence. There's an octopus playing drums. Now comic book nerds will go, "Yeah, well, it's Topo. Come on, guys. That's who it is." So those little moments; they'll be a lot more of that stuff, for sure."
Catch the rest of our interview with Wilson for Moonfall soon. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to hit theaters on December 16.