I admit, I’m still surprised there’s an Aquaman movie on the way, let alone that the guy is showing up in four different movies, according to Jason Momoa. But equally as surprising is the director DC has supposedly nailed down for his debut.
According to The Playlist, word has come out that indie director Jeff Nichols is working on Aquaman. You probably know Nichols best as a guy who works heavily with Zod: Michael Shannon has been in all three of Nichols’ movies, most notably the thriller Take Shelter, featuring Shannon as a man worried that he’s either experiencing visions of the apocalypse or completely losing his mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc
Currently, Nichols is finishing up Midnight Special, a movie he calls a “SF chase film” in the vein of John Carpenter. And Warner likes what they see: It’s going to be their big release for Thanksgiving 2015.
How credible is this rumor? Nichols has a working relationship with Warner, and if the choice of Wonder Woman‘s director has told us anything, they want experienced directors who are somewhat under the radar. It’s also an interesting choice because Nichols’ stock in trade is thrillers, so that would indicate that, at the very least, Nichols is a bit more serious than one might expect out of Aquaman. But we’ll find out soon enough: The King of Atlantis hits theaters in 2018.