‘Aquaman’s Patrick Wilson Praises Warner Bros.’ Choice In Directors

While Justice League may not have performed as well as hoped, due at least in part to the hybrid directing situation with Joss Whedon stepping in for Zack Snyder, fans are still excited for the upcoming standalone Aquaman film. Among the is one of the film’s stars, Patrick Wilson.

Wilson, who plays Aquaman‘s villain Orm/Ocean Master, recently told Metro that despite the films of the DC Extended Universe being judged pretty harshly by critics and audiences alike, he thinks that the directors deserve more credit and a lot more respect for their stylistic choices.

“As they say, there are a lot of different ways to skin a cat,” Wilson explained. “Or to make a movie and a franchise. I can only speak on behalf of being an actor and having a relationship with the directors. As a fan, I sit back and see the choices that they make for directors and they are very strong, focused, individual directors and that takes confidence. It’s easy to hire someone that is just a yes man. And they’re certainly not, which is very exciting.”

Individual certainly sounds like a term that could be applied to Snyder. Referred to as “the DC god” by Ezra Miller in the book Justice League: The Official Collector’s Edition, Snyder may not quite be a deity, but he is the architect of the DCEU. His 2013 Superman movie, Man of Steel, kicked off the film universe and set a tone that would carry through to 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and beyond, though the darker tone drew some criticism over what audiences saw as doom and gloom of the heroes. That assessment of tone even carried over to Justice League despite some tonal shifts thanks to Whedon’s contributions.

And like Snyder, Aquaman director James Wan also has his own, visionary style. Perhaps best known for his work on horror films, such as The Conjuring and Saw, Wan has the task of creating a film where much of the story takes place underwater. It’s a challenge for any filmmaker, but in addition to Wilson’s praise Willem Dafoe — who plays Nudis Vulko in Aquaman — had nothing but positive to say about the director when speaking with The Playlist back in September.

“James Wan’s great,” Dafoe said. “He’s great. I mean, because of the underwater [aspect of the movie] it’s very complicated technically. But you see it in his films, he’s very detail-oriented. He figures the cut. He’s very precise. He’s a real gifted filmmaker.”

Justice League is now in theaters; Aquaman arrives on December 21, 2018; Shazam! on April 5, 2019; Wonder Woman 2 on November 1st, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020.