A slew of concept art for Aquaman reveals alternate looks for Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry, Amber Heard’s Mera and Willem Dafoe’s Vulko. Directed by James Wan, it was the only DCEU flick to come out of theaters last year after the franchise took more than a year hiatus following Zack Snyder’s Justice League. But it proved to be worth the wait with both fans and critics digging it, becoming the highest-grossing DC film of all time.
Aquaman reunited fans with Arthur after he joined World’s Finest in their quest to stop Steppenwolf’s goal to take over the Earth via collecting the Mother Boxes. After the team went their separate ways, the half-human/half-Atlantean was called to Atlantis after his half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson) laid out plans of waging a war on the surface world. Arthur’s journey to stopping him and becoming the king of the underwater civilization wasn’t a walk in the park, but fortunately, he found loyal allies in Mera and Vulko. Apparently, all three of them almost looked different in the film had these concept images were approved for the project.
Shared on her official Instagram account by concept artist Eve Ventrue is a slew of illustrations she created years ago for Aquaman. The batch includes early looks for Arthur, Mera and Vulko. And while Arthur and Mera look somewhat similar to what Momoa and Heard ultimately appeared as their respective characters on the big screen, Dafoe’s looks were drastically changed. Check out the pieces of art below:
With Aquaman 2 officially in-development, chances are that Warner Bros. and DC will build on the look and feel of Atlantis that Wan established in the first film. The director may still not be confirmed for the sequel but considering how good of a job he did in Aquaman, it’s not difficult to imagine that the studio will do everything to get him back. Wan previously said that he’s game to do it if there’s a good script for the follow-up, and since the original movie’s co-writer co-writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is returning, it would be easier to convince the filmmaker given their working history. In the meantime, a spinoff on the film’s Trench is also moving forward.
Looking at the images, only Momoa bares resemblance to his illustration. While the artist didn’t say when exactly she made these, there’s a good chance that it was before both Heard and Vulko were attached to Aquaman. And since Mera appeared in Justice League, and Vulko was also, apparently supposedly had a small cameo at the end of Snyder’s version of the flick, these illustrations may have been created as far back as late 2015 since both Heard and Dafoe boarded the project early in 2016. Vulko, in particular, appears significantly different from what the public saw on the big screen. While the artwork looks cool, Dafoe’s sleek hair and get-up in the movie are more in-line with the look of Atlanteans.
More: Theory: DC’s Trench Movie is Getting the Cloverfield Treatment
Source: Eve Ventru
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