Aquaman 2 Director Confirms Sequel Will Feature ‘A Little Bit’ of Horror

Aquaman 2 director James Wan has confirmed that he will be leaning further into his horror sensibilities for the upcoming DC sequel, saying that some scenes will have a “little bit more” of his “scary sauce.”

Ahead of the virtual DC FanDome event, the DC Comics Twitter account shared an excerpt from a Q&A with the Aquaman 2 director, in which he revealed that the sequel will include “a touch of horror,” building off the Trench sequence from the first film.

“Just like the first movie had a touch of my horror sensibility in it, in regards to the Trench sequence, I would say there’ll be a little bit of that in this next one,” Wan confirmed in response to a fan asking about the crossover of genres. “I think it’s something that’s a big part of who I am, and it just naturally comes out in these kinds of films. And especially a movie like Aquaman, where the story takes place in these underwater worlds that can be very scary. So naturally, my love for the horror genre just means that I latch myself to these scenes and try to give them a little bit more of my scary sauce.”

The original Aquaman’s Trench scene feels like something straight out of a monster movie. It follows Arthur and Mera as they take a boat out on the water, which is inhabited by a mass of ravenous amphibious creatures. The deadly ocean-dwellers attack the vessel and try to drag the duo down to the deep, dark depths of the Mariana Trench in a tense sequence that harkens back to Wan’s horror roots.

In fact, the scene proved to be so popular that a horror-tinged spinoff film centered on the Trench is now said to be in early development. Wan is reportedly teaming up with Peter Safran to produce the project, although there has been no official confirmation of when that film will make a splash on the big screen. Aquaman 2 is still currently set to premiere on December 16, 2022.