James Wan Explains Why He Chose to Direct AQUAMAN Over THE FLASH

Director James Wan was hired to helm DC Films’ Aquaman last year, but that was not the only DC movie he considered. In an interview with Uproxx, Wan reveals that he chose between Aquaman and one of DC’s other 2018 outings, The Flash.

When asked why he declined to direct The Flash, Wan explains, “This is how I weighed it: For me, we’ve seen various versions of The Flash…There’s a popular show on TV and there was a great one in the ’90s.” As for Aquaman, however, there aren’t as many versions of him, and people don’t feel as strongly about him as they do with, say, Batman and Superman. Wan plans to use this to his advantage, along with his desire to create “a whole new world.”

“I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom,” says Wan. “And also, I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him!”

While Wan is directing Aquaman, filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa was recently hired to tackle The Flash. These two join an untitled film – widely believed to be Ben Affleck’s Batman movie – on DC Films’ 2018 schedule. The Flash hits theaters March 16th of that year, while Aquaman arrives on July 27th.