Why ‘Aquaman’ feels like a fresh approach for DC

What could be greater than a trailer? A five-minute footage reel. That’s exactly what Warner Bros. released Friday morning for James Wan’s Aquaman. The extended look gives viewers a greater glimpse at the scope and tone of the first cinematic adaptation of DC’s most underrated hero. While DC’s cinematic universe, outside of Wonder Woman (2017) has divided fans and critics, Aquaman looks unlike anything else superhero films have offered before. Let’s dive in.

The footage opens on a snowglobe, resting on top of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror. While it may seem like simple set dressing, the two objects hint at the film’s tone and influences, suggesting both otherworldly fantasy and beauty, alongside extradimensional horror with far-reaching consequences. But before the footage takes us down those paths, it establishes the love story between Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and lighthouse keeper Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison). Over the decades, Aquaman’s origins have gone through numerous iterations.