[The following post may contain mild spoilers for Aquaman.]
DC Films reportedly screened Aquaman for a sample audience ten months in advance of its theatrical release, and reactions were positive, as always!
Batman-News reported that several people told them that they attended a recent test screening for 2018’s only DC Comics-based movie. They described it as an emotional action movie, and added that it was similar in tone to Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman.
Aquaman apparently isn’t short on humor, but it’s also been described as more of a drama. James Wan, who directed the spine-tingling Insidious and The Conjuring, somehow managed to also add elements of horror to his latest effort. The bulk of the movie’s visual effects remained unfinished at the time of the screening, but the audience was still highly entertained with its Star Wars-like underwater battles and scary monsters.
Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson) would be the main Aquaman villain, and screening attendees reported that he was an amazing one. Secondary villain Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was true to his counterpart in the comics, with the same origin and costume. As expected, villains The Trench also made an appearance.
Amber Heard is Jason Momoa’s co-lead as Mera, who is in no way a damsel in distress. Wan made it official a couple of months ago that while Justice League made use of dialogue air bubbles, we won’t see any of that in Aquaman.
Some time ago, we told you about a rumor suggesting that Momoa’s suit would bear a striking resemblance to a suit that DC Comics’ Aquaman wore, and we’ve since learned that that’s apparently the case. In addition, Bruce Wayne would be glad to know that his colleague will actually talk to fish in the movie!
UPDATE: On the latest episode of Meet the Movie Press, host Jeff Sneider and TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez shared that they too have heard good things about the test screening. An attendee described the movie to Gonzalez as “palette cleanser”. Sneider was told that it “plays like an Indiana Jones movie and that the action puts Wonder Woman and Justice League to shame.”
