Aquaman Is Actually Kind of a Chump Underwater, Director Implies

You’d think that Aquaman would be stronger underwater, since being the master of the ocean is kind of his whole deal. However, Aquaman director James Wan recently indicated that the hero will actually be in more danger in Atlantis than he was up on dry land in Justice League. It’s not because he can’t swim, though, it’s because Atlantian weapons are hardcore.

ComicBook went on a visit to the Aquaman set where Wan explained how he tried to make Aquaman a unique hero among the members of the Justice League.

“Well, I think firstly one thing I’ve been very cautious about doing is making sure that he isn’t Superman,” Wan said. “He’s strong because, like most Atlanteans, their bodies are built to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure, they live so far down.”

Wan explained that Atlanteans are naturally strong when they come to the surface because they’re bodies are so dense and adapted to pressure. Bullets don’t bounce off the way they do when they hit Superman, but they’re not going to make much of a dent.

However, Wan says that Atlantian weapons, the ones that Aquaman will have to deal with when he’s swimming around on his home turf, would seriously mess the hero up.

“When he goes up, surface world weapons may have a hard time taking him down, but Atlantian technology can cripple him for sure. It can really destroy him,” Wan said.

Even though Wan framed the conversation as being about the differences between Superman and Aquaman, this is actually another similarity between the two heroes. On Krypton, under a red sun and vulnerable to Kryptonian technology, Superman is in much, much more danger than he would be on Earth’s surface.

Still, kinda wild that it’s not better down where it’s wetter for Aquaman.

Aquaman comes out on December 21.