James Wan clarifies the number of villains in Aquaman

Although he briefly made an appearance in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, our first real introduction to Arthur Curry aka Aquaman (Jason Momoa) arrived in JUSTICE LEAGUE. Unfortunately, beyond a brief sequence, we didn't get to learn all that much about Aquaman's world. It seems that we'll have to wait until James Wan's AQUAMAN to fully explore Atlantis and its inhabitants, which will include more than a few characters who don't exactly see eye-to-eye with the future King of the Seven Seas.

As the casting news began to roll in, fans took note that the film's villain count was quickly rising, with Patrick Wilson playing Aquaman's half-brother Orm, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II playing Black Manta, and Dolph Lundgren playing King Nereus. Packing villains in like sardines rarely works out, I'm looking at you AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, but James Wan spoke with Entertainment Weekly to clarify just how many villains AQUAMAN will have.

This is what I’ll say: I don’t have three villains. I think that’s ridiculous! I would never go into an origin movie with three villains. We don’t even know the main character let alone the world and its antagonist. I believe in taking baby steps.

That's a relief, but just who will be facing off against Aquaman in the movie? "I want to introduce Arthur Curry in a much more emotional and powerful way, and introduce Mera played by Amber Heard, and of course there’s Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison playing his parents," Wan said. "We know Black Manta is in there, but I will say this: Patrick Wilson is the main antagonist in this film. I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘villain,’ but he’s the antagonist."

Even though JUSTICE LEAGUE didn't quite manage to work for me, I'll still greatly excited for the future of the DCEU, including AQUAMAN. Jason Momoa has previously said that AQUAMAN is a "totally different beast" than JUSTICE LEAGUE. "In Aquaman, you see when his parents met and what happened to hem. Then the little boy being raised and finding his powers and going through that and never being accepted on either side," Momoa added. "And then becoming this man who puts up all these walls. You just slowly see this man harden up and be completely reluctant wanting to be king and not knowing what to do with these powers he has. I think James Wan just killed it."

AQUAMAN will hit theaters on December 21, 2018.