Aquaman director James Wan has revealed a crucial moment from Arthur Curry's past that wound up cut from the film. Aquaman was essentially a traditional superhero origin story, exploring just what makes Aquaman a true hero. It almost completely ignored the events of Justice League - there was only one brief mention of Steppenwolf - and instead chose to introduce Aquaman as a new commodity.
That was a smart move; the flashbacks were among the most effective scenes in the entire movie, even making their way into the marketing. Flashbacks showed how Arthur's parents met and his mother left; they revealed his outsider status as a teenager in a tremendous moment where he commanded the fish in an aquarium; and they showed a number of minor training montages. But according to director James Wan, there was one more flashback that didn't make the cut.
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Speaking to Comic Book, Wan explained that he initially filmed a scene in which Arthur first learned he could breathe underwater. "I know it sounds very important," he added, "but it being a flashback scene, I really felt like I had too many flashbacks as it were, and that I didn't want to cram another one in there." Wan's hope is that this scene will make its way onto the home release as a deleted scene.
Editing is always one of the most difficult tasks facing a filmmaker. In the case of Aquaman, it seems Wan was already uncomfortable with the film's length. Aquaman runs at 2 hours 22 minutes, longer than Wan wanted, and so he felt he had to be ruthless and cut scenes that weren't essential to moving on with the narrative. Wan's comments suggest there were other scenes that didn't make it to the theatrical release, so hopefully there will be a few more scenes among the special features. At the same time, though, it's important to remember that this is a shared cinematic universe, and thus footage can potentially be reused. DC's rival Marvel Studios has form for keeping back footage from one film for possible future use in a sequel or tie-in, and Warner Bros. could take the same approach.
Aquaman has had the lowest domestic opening weekend for the entire DCEU. That may not kill off this particular franchise, though, given the film's international performance is impressive. It's actually already heading for $500 million at the global box office, and is officially Warner's highest-grossing film in China. In fact, because of a staggered release, Aquaman was already making a profit before it even hit the domestic box office. But takings may not be the deciding factor on whether or not Wan signs up for any sequel; he's scratched the itch to direct a superhero movie, and is contemplating moving on to other projects.
More: Aquaman 2: How The Ending Sets Up An Even Better Sequel
Source: Comic Book
