James Wan Confirms How Aquaman Handles Underwater Dialogue

Atlanteans will speak normally in underwater scenes in Aquaman according to director James Wan. One of the more exciting elements of Justice League was the chance for Warner Bros. to fully introduce characters who will be major players in the years to come. Jason Momoa’s take on Aquaman had only been teased in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but Justice League bridged the gap until his solo movie. However, in exploring his underwater life, Justice League made a bizarre choice to mandate protective speech bubbles in order for these people to talk.

It was only shown once when Mera (Amber Heard) created a water free space to talk to Aquaman. Atlanteans have the ability to breathe and live underwater, so this decision was met with plenty of disdain. Wan quickly clarified that this isn’t how speech would be shown in his movie and he’s now confirmed the simple way Aquaman will handle it.

Related: When Will WB Release the Aquaman Trailer?

EW spoke with Wan after seeing 15 minutes of footage and got to witness how Wan is depicting his underwater dialogue scenes. He took the simple approach saying, “People are overthinking it. They’re just gonna talk!” So there you have it. No speech or air bubbles required for Aquaman. These characters will simply talk underwater as if they were talking on land. The one difference, though, may come through what EW believes to be sound waves rippling through the water.

Considering how poorly Justice League‘s underwater talking went over with viewers, it is great to now know with absolute certainty how Aquaman plans to change it. This is undoubtedly the easiest and cleanest way for Aquaman to operate. Allowing these characters to speak freely underwater doesn’t put any constraints on Wan to constantly find a water free zone to let his characters communicate. It also just makes the most sense. If Atlanteans have been living underwater for all these years, why would talking be the one thing they can’t do?

Now that EW has been able to see how Aquaman looks, it doesn’t seem like it will be too much longer until the rest of the world does. All indications point to the trailer being released in a matter of days. Wan confirmed as much himself by saying it is coming soon, and that was before the trailer was shown at CineEurope. This would contradict the rumor that the trailer would debut at San Diego Comic-Con, though. But, with EW ramping up their coverage, all signs point to the trailer’s debut on the horizon.

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