Aquaman will not be the first appearance of the water-dwelling superhero in the DC Extended Universe. Jason Momoa will be a key member of the team in November’s Justice League, serving alongside Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). However, the character of Aquaman will be more fully-formed by the time Justice League’s plot is set in motion; the solo movie, which is expected to hit theaters in 2018, will explore his origins.

Momoa is certainly excited to tackle his first big-budget cinematic starring role, which will come after his next TV starring role in Netflix’s Frontier. Aquaman is expected to depict the rise of Arthur Curry as the savior of Atlantis and perhaps a more reluctant hero than the one you will see in Justice League. Now, it is known when Momoa will officially get to work on telling Aquaman’s origin story.

During an interview with THR, Momoa opened up on his experience filming Justice League and his plans for Aquaman, revealing in the process that he begins shooting his Australia-set scenes in “four or five months,” which should be right around the June 2nd release date of Wonder Woman and finish up by the time Justice League is released. His schedule will include plenty of scenes that are actually shot underwater.

“I start in 4/5 months.“Jason Momoa talking about his solo Aquaman movie, #JusticeLeague and his show #Frontier pic.twitter.com/mcruaQbyNi— 暗い森。 (@IegoIasWayne) January 11, 2017

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Momoa also expressed excitement to explore more of Aquaman’s origins in the solo movie, despite enjoying his time making Justice League. Here’s the full quote from the video:

It will be interesting to see how the connections between movies in the DCEU handle the timing involved with Aquaman’s story. Momoa’s first starring role in the DCEU is something of a prequel, considering it’s an origin story that comes out nearly a year after he steps firmly into the spotlight in Justice League. Still, with veteran director James Wan (Saw, Furious 7) onboard, Aquaman can reasonably be expected to boast plenty of action and suspense as it details the hero’s backstory.

“I’m really pumped about [Aquaman]. I start in four or five months, so [I’ll have] a little bit of rest then [get] back into it. … Justice League was amazing, but it’s going to be fun to have the arc and talk about this guy’s backstory and where he’s going.”

The main concern with Aquaman will be the storytelling, which was arguably the biggest flaw of the convoluted, overwhelmingly gloomy Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Aquaman co-screenwriter Will Beall (Gangster Squad) doesn’t have a long track record, but Momoa’s charisma and star power should help to elevate Aquaman into being a special addition to the larger DCEU filmography.

Source: THR (via Twitter)

  • wonder woman Release Date: 2017-06-02 Justice League Release Date: 2017-11-17 Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05