‘Aquaman’ Trailer “Barely Scratches the Surface” of the Movie

Aquaman director James Wan says the lengthy extended trailer released at New York Comic Con Friday "barely scratches the surface" of his epic underwater superhero adventure.

Trailers contain spoilers by nature. So if you don’t want anything spoilt, don’t see it. But I can say this — this 5-min trailer barely scratches the surface of the actual movie.

— James Wan (@creepypuppet) October 6, 2018

Wan's Star Wars-inspired take on the iconic DC Comics superhero in his first standalone movie sees Aquaman (Jason Momoa) caught in the middle of a brewing war between surface dwellers and the undersea Atlanteans — and it'll take Aquaman and ally Mera (Amber Heard) to turn the tide.

Speaking to ComicBook, Wan said it was important for his first entry in the superhero pantheon to maintain his identity even when considering its place in the wider shared DC Films universe.

"It was very important for me early on to be allowed to make my own film and to have my own voice be in there," Wan said.

"After Furious Seven and Conjuring 2, I didn't want to be a director for hire. After Furious Seven, that's kind of who I was to some degree, but after that, I don't want to be that guy again. So, it was very important for me to be able to bring my own stamp, my own visual aesthetic, create the characters. Even though Jason has somewhat been established Justice League, I wanted to bring his character into this, basically, fresh in a lot of ways."

Wan said it was important to take Aquaman's foundation as established in Zack Snyder's Justice League into account, but wanted to be allowed the freedom to make the movie he envisioned. It allowed Wan to make a "massive" undersea world unlike anything seen before in movies.

"I really think what has been really fun, and I think for moviegoers, not just the fans, is when they see this film, they're not just seeing a world of DC. They're literally seeing a world within Aquaman itself," Wan said.

"Just within the world of Aquaman, just creating the different kingdoms, like the different world, the machines that drive the world. They transport the animals that live in this underwater world and all that stuff. So I've never made a movie that is so heavily designed to this extent, and it was really awesome just being able to come up with really interesting things, and just run with it. And when the film comes out, I think you're going to see how crazy big it is."

Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Patrick Wilson, Randall Park, Dolph Lundgren, Tempera Morrison, Djimon Hounsou, Willem Dafoe, and Nicole Kidman, opens December 21.