Aquaman VFX reel shows the magic behind the underwater adventure

This year saw plenty of new worlds come to life in the comic book movie realm, including the futuristic Wakanda in BLACK PANTHER, the barren planet Titan in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, the mystical realm of San Francisco in VENOM and, of course, the underwater city of Atlantis in AQUAMAN. For the latter, the challenge of bringing to life the incredible visual effects did not stop at creating Atlantis, with so many other complex elements making up the DCEU’s most visually arresting entry yet. Now a new sizzle reel offers an interesting (and oddly seductive?) before-after look at some of the more impressive effects of the movie, proving two things: There was a ton of water being thrown around and even more blue screen.

[SEE MORE]

One of the most fascinating aspects of the reel is the quick look at how they made hair sway with the currents while underwater, which involved an entire digital recreation of the actors’ hair. You can see Jason Momoa had to pin his luscious locks back so that the VFX team could place digital hair on his head in post-production. See, now I just thought Momoa’s hair did that wavy thing on its own. Huh, the motion picture business, amiright?

This VFX reel comes on the heels of James Wan voicing his warranted anger over AQUAMAN’s snub at the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, not making the final round of voting. Of course, we all know that’s hogwash, and this video is yet another reminder of how incredible the effects in AQUAMAN were, and now that the movie is dashing to $1 billion to perhaps become the biggest DC movie ever around the world, the inevitable sequel could look even better.

[SEE MORE]

AQUAMAN is in theaters now (see it in IMAX)