Look, I’ve done my fair share of throwing shade at James Wan’s upcoming film “Aquaman.” It’s not because I dislike Wan (in fact, I think he’s one of the most exciting directors working today) or Jason Momoa (despite his…unique…take on the character). My heightened skepticism of “Aquaman” comes from the fact that I really like the character and want the hero to put his best fin forward on the big screen. Sadly, the marketing materials (and interviews) preceding the release of “Aquaman” has put a sick feeling in my stomach. And that leads me to today’s “Aquaman” news — brace yourselves for on-screen vomiting.
In lieu of a set visit, which is fairly commonplace among superhero films, Warner Bros. invited select outlets to talk with director James Wan in the “Aquaman” editing bay. One would assume the main reason for this is the fact that most of the film takes place underwater and watching the filming would require a hefty dose of imagination.
READ MORE: Jason Momoa Says ‘Aquaman’ is “Gonna Be Like ‘Star Wars’ Underwater”
At any rate, Screen Rant was able to talk with James Wan about one of the most surprising aspects of footage they saw, which was the way in which the underwater Atlanteans expelled the water from their lungs when they go to the surface world. Long story short, they vomit.
Wan explains why the decision was made to show the characters vomiting water on screen:
“People would ask me, you know, ‘So when they talk, is it bubbles that come out of their mouth?’ And I’m like, ‘No because there’s no air in your lungs, so there wouldn’t be any bubbles.’ Right? So then in that sequence where you saw Mera open up this air pocket… when [Orm] lands in that, he’s breathing air. The first thing he does is, he’s in an air pocket, so he’d puke out all the water that’s in his lungs. So that’s the first step. We think about all these little details and stuff like that. And then when he’s screaming [when the water returns], we want bubbles coming out of his mouth because now there’s actually air in his lungs.”
In addition to the scene described above, the report says that Nicole Kidman vomits up water when meeting her future human beau (aka Aquaman’s dad). Clearly, the director and the rest of the cast and crew on “Aquaman” spent a good deal of time working out the physics and biology of setting a film underwater with characters that “breathe” water. Nevermind the other issues I may have with the film, which may or may not be interpreted as nitpicky (I still don’t understand how sound works underwater or why people who swim really fast ride other sea life. But I digress.), Wan’s explanation holds water, pun fully intended.
He also explains why some of the characters in the film have evolved differently from others. Basically, here’s why Atlantis has an apparent caste system.
“In our story Atlanteans, because they were surface-dwellers at one point, they evolved slightly different. So we used that to differentiate a caste system. Like the high-born evolved slightly different to the people lower than them,” the director said.
Unfortunately, the director wasn’t able to confirm the details of whether or not we’ll see Jason Momoa and Amber Heard vomiting up their water lungs each time they hit the surface. Could be a fun gag, I guess?
No matter the end result of “Aquaman,” like whether its any good or will earn a billion dollars, one thing is for sure, the film will definitely feature more vomiting than any other superhero film to date!
“Aquaman” hits theaters December 21.