The summer movie season is just around the corner, but over the past few years studios have been expanding blockbuster territory to encompass nearly 12 months out of the year. Indeed, one need only look to the February release of Black Panther, which is now officially the highest-grossing superhero movie in the U.S., to understand that “blockbuster season” is now very much a relative term.
One of the big “off-season” blockbusters on the docket that folks are eager to see is Aquaman, Warner Bros. and DC’s follow-up film to Justice League. It doesn’t hit theaters until December 21st, just in time for Christmas, but that hasn’t stopped fans from demanding to see the first footage from the movie via a debut trailer. Some assumed it would be attached to Warner Bros.’ late-March blockbuster Ready Player One, but the film’s director James Wan has taken to Twitter to reveal that’s not the case. Fans will have to continue waiting for the first Aquaman trailer, and Wan explains why:
It is a bit early to start seeing trailers for December releases, albeit we have already seen trailers for big December releases like Mary Poppins Returns, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Alita: Battle Angel. But Wan understandably wants to get this right, and he knows he only has one chance to introduce Aquaman to the world at large so he wants to make it count.
Indeed, this isn’t just any old superhero movie. Warner Bros.’ Justice League, which hit theaters last November, was the lowest grossing DC Extended Universe movie thus far, and so the studio really needs to turn public perception around with Aquaman. The goodwill from Wonder Woman still lingers and there are promising projects like Shazam! on the horizon so all is not lost, but even before Justice League was a bust, an Aquaman movie was a bit of a tough sell.
Wan has weathered storms before, as the horror director behind films like Saw and The Conjuring made his blockbuster debut on Furious 7, only to have to rewrite nearly half the movie during production when star Paul Walker tragically died halfway through filming. That film turned out pretty great, all things considered, so many have been curious to see what Wan brings to the table with Aquaman.
It sounds like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out, though perhaps Wan will have that trailer ready in time for the mid-April release of Warner Bros.’ Rampage. Whatever the case, expect the film to have a major presence at Comic-Con this summer.
For a full list of DC movies currently in development, click here.
