DC throws 'grieving Aquaman' pitch into bin: Jeff Nichols

Aquaman under James Wan was the billion-dollar goal for the DC; however, The Conjuring filmmaker was not the first choice to helm the King Under the Sea. Jeff Nichols was.

In a chat with Happy Sad Confused podcast, the critically acclaimed director said, “I still have scenes from [‘Aquaman’] in my head that would’ve been good,” as his successes from indie films Mud and Take Shelter caught the studio attention and talks were held in 2014.

He continued, “They would’ve been quite different from the film that was made. It wasn’t ever feasible.”

However, the filmmaker admitted his vision would not fit in the previous DC storyline.

“I liked the older Aquaman, like when he had a harpoon for a hand. He was a fallen king and his son had died. He was in mourning. Obviously from this brief pitch you can see it would’ve sold hundreds of dollars worth of tickets.”

Meanwhile, Jason Momoa-starrer Aquaman struck the right cord and went on to become a massive hit for nascent now-shelved DCEU. Buoyed by success, the studio greenlighted the sequel of the superhero movie which will roll out later in 2023.