From the earliest days in his career, James Wan has constantly managed to reinvent the horror genre. First, he changed the game alongside Leigh Whannell with the original Saw. Then they did it all over again with Insidious. From the expansive Conjuring universe, to the wild excesses of Malignant, Wan’s impact on the horror genre has continued to shape the genre for two decades now. It even comes through when he’s not operating in The Further, or palling it up with Gabriel. Aquaman featured a full-on creature-feature sequence in The Trench – and now its sequel, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, is set to soak in even more of that horror flavour.
“There was an element of horror in the first film,” Wan tells Empire in our world-exclusive Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom cover story. “But this second movie definitely has more of that.” This time, the references are old-school Euro-horror, and Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion monsters. “That became the design foundation,” he explains, citing Planet Of The Vampires as a touchpoint. “The Lost Kingdom has a very retro, ‘60s horror look.” Expect unsettling mechanical creatures with an “old-school sci-fi and horror” feeling. “We have this huge action set-piece where Arthur and Orm fight [Black Manta’s] henchmen, using the ‘Octobot’ – this mechanical squid thing,” promises Wan. “That was really fun to shoot.”
Much of that horror is set to come courtesy of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s returning villain – his thirst for revenge against Aquaman seeing him take possession of the fabled ‘Black Trident’, before going, quite literally, to a dark place. “In his quest to find ways to destroy Arthur, Black Manta… stumbles onto something,” the director teases. Our guess? A planet of the vampires. On second thoughts, maybe not.
Read Empire’s full world-exclusive Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom cover story – speaking to James Wan about his journey following up DC’s mega-splash blockbuster, tapping back into his horror roots, and navigating the changing course of the DCEU – in the December 2023 issue. Pre-order a copy online here, or become an Empire member to access the digital edition on launch day. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom comes to UK cinemas from 20 December.