James Wan Reacts To News That ‘Aquaman’ Will Pass Batman To Become DC’s Highest Grossing Superhero Movie

Aquaman has made quite an impact on moviegoers for Warner Bros., and James Wan is still getting used to the fact that it will soon be the company’s highest grossing superhero movie ever.

That’s immensely impressive, especially since it will be taking the crown from the beloved Christopher Nolan set of Batman films. Aquaman currently sits at about 1.07 billion and is likely to soon overtake The Dark Knight Rises with another $17 million. That’s huge for a couple of reasons, and Wan took to social media to share his still processing thoughts on the subject.

The post starts with a quote from Deadline, with Wan writing “For years Aquaman has been an orange-shirted punchline… No one is laughing anymore. And this weekend when the King of Atlantis surpasses the Dark Knight of Gotham City, orange will officially be the new black for Warner Bros.” Crazy.”

It really is. Few predicted that even with positive reviews Aquaman could reach these heights, but Wan, Jason Momoa, and the rest of the crew produced a film that resonated with audiences and brought the hero out of the shadows to take his crown. The character has always struggled to shake a stigma, and at times has been a punching bag. Those days are long gone though, and Warner Bros. couldn’t be happier.

That’s why at the moment the studio is looking at scripts for Aquaman 2. That process didn’t take long to start after Aquaman’s superb performance at the box office, especially overseas. Domestically the film is doing well, bringing in $309 million. To put that into perspective, Aquaman sits at #6 on the domestic all-time DC Comics movie list, behind movies like Suicide Squad ($325 million), Wonder Woman ($412 million), and The Dark Knight, which sits at the top of the list with $533 million domestically.

That said, overseas it is a whole different ball game, as it’s pulled in $766 million, and Warner Bros. will do everything it can to get Wan back in the director’s seat so they can return to the profitable world of Atlantis once more.

DC and WB are hoping Shazam! or the upcoming Joker movie can be the next big success for their DC movie universe, but while you wait you can still go see Aquaman, which is in theaters now.