'Aquaman' Won't Feature Other 'Justice League' Characters, Says Director James Wan

Looks like Jason Momoa's gonna have to yell phrases like "Yeah-uh!" and "My man!" at someone else in his upcoming Aquaman solo movie, because director James Wan says that his film won't include other members of the Justice League. Apologies to those of you who were breathlessly anticipating a Cyborg cameo – sounds like that might have to wait until Aquaman 2.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wan said he didn't want his film to get bogged down with figuring out what every other hero was up to:

"I wanted to keep the story to the world of Aquaman and not have to worry about what other characters are doing in their films and how that would affect us. I just thought the simplest way was to keep it clean — keep it simple and let it be an Aquaman story."

That's a smart approach, especially when the DC film universe is currently on such precarious ground. I would point to the recent success of Ant-Man and the Wasp as a superhero movie set in a connected world that didn't feel the need to incorporate its other heroes into the mix. However, a certain kind of DC fan might blow a gasket if I mentioned a Marvel property in this article, so instead I'll direct your attention to the way Wonder Woman deftly handled things last year. Granted, that film was a prequel and Aquaman is set after Justice League, so depending on how world-threatening the events of Aquaman become, it may require a line of acknowledgment in Justice League 2 as to why Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg didn't come over to lend a hand.

Of course, just because the other Justice League characters don't appear in the movie doesn't mean that we won't hear from them at all. Speaking of Wonder Woman, that film's only connection to the larger DC film universe was a letter and package sent to her office at The Louvre by Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne. I'd like to think that this film also begins with Aquaman receiving a letter from Batman, because then it's easy to just assume that Batman spends half of his time writing hand-written letters to his pals. I'm imagining it would read something like this:

"Hey Aquaman. Batman again. Forgot to mention that when you come to the meeting at the cave on Friday, I need you to bring a dessert. It's kind of a potluck type of thing. See you then. Your bro, Batman.

P.S. – No, fish doesn't count as dessert!"

Hey, have you seen the trailer for this movie? If all of that footage appears in the film, that letter would be at least the tenth-goofiest thing to happen.

Meanwhile, Wan explained how he views the movie's narrative. "I equate our story to The Sword and the Stone. It's a very Arthurian story about a journey to becoming king." We'll all be able to witness the coronation when Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018.