Arthur Curry first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and later had a leading role in Justice League. However, the Aquaman movie doesn't really reference the wider DC Extended Universe and feels even more standalone in nature than Wonder Woman.
Now, director James Wan has elaborated on why he wanted to make a movie that's "not necessarily part of a 'cinematic universe."
"We’ve seen him in other films, but I really wanted to tell a standalone story," he explains. "People ask me why. And I’m like: ‘Listen, you guys have so many movies to do with Superman and Batman and all that already. Let’s give this guy his time in the limelight. This is his opportunity. He’s never had the chance before. Let’s just let it be his film, and get that right. And maybe then we can have fun mixing him up with the other characters."
That's certainly a reasonable explanation and one which definitely benefits the character in the long run, especially if Warner Bros. is hoping to launch a new franchise.
"It’s ultimately about the journey that he goes on," Wan concluded. "I didn’t want to jam the other characters in just for the sake of jamming characters in there."
As great as it would have been to see the likes of Batman and Superman (well, maybe not them specifically as Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill have seemingly walked away from their respective roles) in Aquaman, it's hard to escape the feeling that the filmmaker made the right choice and it will be interesting to see what Shazam! does, especially as he doesn't have a history with other DC heroes.
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