For a superhero tentpole featuring one of the most iconic characters in DC history, there hasn’t been an awful lot of material for Aquaman. At least, not yet.
Pegged for a release this December, James Wan’s standalone (and sub-aquatic!) adventure is undoubtedly one of the most hotly-anticipated comic book releases of the year that doesn’t have the word ‘Avengers’ in the title. And though fans were beginning to grow concerned by the radio silence, Aquaman is supposedly testing pretty well in early screenings, which have also brought forth some early plot details about the emotional story underpinning Wan’s creative venture. But not every viewer has taken to Arthur Curry’s spinoff.
Mark Hughes of Superhero News (h/t Batman-News) claims to have heard some negative reviews coming out of Aquaman‘s preliminary test screenings. We’ve included the video below, with the review chatter located around the 49:00 marker:
This is by no means the only reaction to emerge from Aquaman‘s advance screenings; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, the actor responsible for Black Manta, recently told those in attendance at SXSW that he was particularly impressed by the footage shown thus far.
I can’t say much about that. I have seen some of it, and I’m very happy with what I’ve seen thus far. Australia was beautiful. They have a word there, they say ‘cruising’, which means that it’s really, really comfortable, and low stress, and just beautiful, a lot of greenery and beaches and things like that.
So perhaps James Wan’s rendition of the Atlantean King isn’t for everyone? Or it could well be the case that Mark Hughes’ source is an isolated case, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the final product. So many questions, so few answers.
We’ll be able to run the rule over Aquaman once Wan’s solo movie begins its theatrical rollout on December 21st. Elsewhere on the DCEU slate, director David F. Sandberg is making serious headway on Shazam!, which now has an official (and downright striking!) new logo to call its own.
