"Who said family?": Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan thanked Vin Diesel and Fast and the Furious for an important lesson on family values
James Wan, director of the DC Comics sequel "Aquaman 2", has expressed his gratitude to Vin Diesel for his inspiration. At a press conference for the winter blockbuster's premiere, the filmmaker joked that the emphasis on family relationships inherent in the "Fast and Furious" franchise really influenced him.
Here's What We Know
Wan's jokes about "Fast and the Furious" at the press event drew smiles from the audience. "'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' does focus on Arthur's family ties a lot more than the first part, thanks to Vin Diesel."
"I learned about family from 'Fast and Furious,' you guys, so it's coming into play in a big way", grinned Wang. "You can see a bit of that played into this in a big, big way. [Laughs] No, seriously — you know, the family aspect in this film was something that was very important for me. And you can have Vin to thank for that."
In the first film, Orm was the antagonist. But when Black Manta gets a significant boost to his powers, Arthur has no choice but to turn to his brother for help. When the time comes to save the seas, they will have to put aside their differences.
"I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go. The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera's journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie. We'll leave it at that."
In the sequel, Jason Momoa will return as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta and Randall Park as Steven Sheen. Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play the role of Atlan, previously played by Graham McTavish in Aquaman. Also joining the cast is Pilou Asbaek in a mysterious role.
When We Can Expect It
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set for release on December 20, 2023.