If Arthur Curry spent much of Justice League battling Steppenwolf and those pesky Parademons on Earth’s surface, then Aquaman is all about plunging Jason Momoa’s titular DC hero beneath the waves, where he must prove his worth as the would-be king of Atlanta.
Doing so won’t be easy, of course, as his half-brother Orm (AKA the Ocean Master) is plotting war against the surface world – not that you can blame him, really, given how the human race has spent the past number of years dumping waste and other pollutants into the world’s oceans.
Armed with a full battalion of soldiers and armored sharks, it’s fair to say that Orm is a force to be reckoned with, and today’s newly-released international trailer brings us that little bit closer to the fraught relationship between Patrick Wilson’s warlord and his estranged sibling, Arthur Curry, who is still finding his feet in Atlantis.
As is often the case for international trailers, this Aquaman promo reuses much of the same footage from previous teasers, as we see Jason Momoa’s hero join Mera (Amber Heard) on a quest for answers. They’ll seemingly encounter King Atlan on their travels, too, who will no doubt dish out some much-needed wisdom about what it means to be king.
So while the CG action is undoubtedly impressive, Aquaman will likely live or die on its character development. Though if studio head Toby Emmerich is to be believed, James Wan and his creative team have struck what is perhaps the perfect balance between “fun and jeopardy, edge and wonder, comedy and tragedy.” Color us intrigued.
Warner Bros. is poised to launch Aquaman into theaters on December 21st, and maybe – just maybe – reverse this franchise’s fortunes.