You may have caught the news yesterday, but if you missed it, Warner Bros. Pictures is reportedly working on a spinoff film for Aquaman. The movie will not be a super hero picture featuring the Atlantean hero, but rather a horror film based around the Trench.
The what?
The Trench!
You know, the creepy sea monsters briefly seen attacking Arthur and Mera in last year’s Aquaman!
*Cough*
These guys.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has hired Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald to write the script for The Trench, with Aquaman director, James Wan and Peter Safran on producing duties.
And I am very excited by this.
As previously mentioned on this very blog, I wasn’t a huge fan of Aquaman. It was OK, but it was far too long and it left me feeling uninspired.
HOWEVER, one of the more interesting parts of the movie was the Trench scene. This was a genuinely creepy moment in the film and one I wanted to see more of.
This whole scene was tinged with horror and could easily have been the focus of far more screen time. I’m not saying I wanted Aquaman to be any longer than it was – it was over-stuffed as it was – but I’d have happily watched more of THAT scene.
So yes, give me more!
What also interests me about this project is Wan’s involvement – even if it is as a producer role (at this stage).
Wan set in motion The Conjuring Universe – Warner’s ever-expanding horror universe. The Conjuring Universe is an example of how to develop a shared universe organically – with spinoffs and sequels that crop up from one project to the next.
Developing the DC Universe organically is something that Warner Bros. needs to be doing more of, especially now, as it shifts its focus from team-up pictures post Justice League (2017). Instead of producing more movies about the Dark Knight – such as the oft-talked about The Batman – it would be good to see the DC Universe focus on smaller, varied projects instead.
Warner Bros. Pictures hasn’t managed to make a good shared universe out of its DC characters (not yet anyway), so why not just do little spinoffs like this instead? As with The Conjuring films, pick out key characters that could be the focus of small films and concentrate on those.
At this moment in time, I’m genuinely more excited about the possibilities of The Trench than I am about The Batman. I really hope this picture gets made.
Read more:
- Batman Forever and the Flash figures from Mattel
- Are cinematic universes making way for multiverses?
- Thoughts on the Scorsese-Coppola-Marvel situation
It's A Stampede! 
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