Awesome New Character Posters for James Wan’s Aquaman are Pure Joy

So much of what made Zack Snyder‘s DC movies dour and unpalatable to many was just how realistic and grounded he tried to make the characters, stripping away the innocence of Superman and the honor of Batman and dragging them down into the mud with the rest of us unwashed masses. There was little inspiration to be found in those movies and the figures were hardly mythic.

James Wan‘s Aquaman goes in the exact opposite direction, exalting the powers and abilities of his lead character while surrounding him in bright, gleaming, mythic surroundings that have more in common with The Lord of the Rings than Justice League . The sheer joy of what a superhero movie can be is realized in the latest character posters for the movie, which look like comic book page splash pages (no pun intended) come to life in vivid color.

Aquaman was written by Will Beall (Gangster Squad) from a story by Wan and Geoff Johns. The cast includes Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Aquaman’s half-brother, Orm; Temuera Morrison as Aquaman’s father, Thomas Curry; Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, science advisor to the throne of Atlantis; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Aquaman’s archenemy, Black Manta; Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus of the undersea kingdom of Xebel; Julian Lewis Jones as the king of Atlantis; and Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman as Aquaman’s mother, Queen Atlanna.

Aquaman opens in theaters on December 21st.