Congratulations, we now live in a world in which someone posting an image of Willem Dafoe astride a crazy sea creature is big news. Director James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring) took to Twitter early Saturday evening to drop two pictures from the actually well-received forthcoming DCEU entry Aquaman.
https://twitter.com/creepypuppet/status/1053440979733110784
You have to blow up the images and perhaps even squint to see who’s on what, or what even what is. But the first image finds Dafoe — one of the great cinematic Jesuses, who somehow received his first ever Oscar nomination only last year, for The Florida Project — as Aquaman frenemy Nuidis Vulko, chilling on what looks like an armored hammerhead shark.
The other is even harder to parse. Wan’s caption identifies him as Orm, aka Ocean Master, aka the film’s big supervillain. Orm is the half-brother of Jason Momoa’s aggressively tattooed superhero, who will fight him for the throne of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. But you’d have to zoom in really tight to ID the actor as Patrick Wilson, who’s starred in the director’s Conjuring and Insidious movies. (No word on if Wan will helm “Untitled Annabelle Project.”) His “steed,” as per Wan’s vernacular, is…a really, really big fish, with really, really, really big teeth?
Dropping first look images on social media is de rigueur these days. What’s not de rigueur is when they prompt some playful banter between the director and one of the actors. Wilson decided to weigh in soon after Wan’s tweet.
I miss my tylosaur. 🔱 https://t.co/pSCuSmnRLX
— patrick wilson (@patrickwilson73) October 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/creepypuppet/status/1053448024301592576
Please don’t ruin the magic.
Do you remember the name…or should I save that for the junket? 🔱 https://t.co/XCQ9FQtuk2— patrick wilson (@patrickwilson73) October 20, 2018
Aquaman is due on December 21, and it boasts a fairly Mad Libs supporting cast of Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Djimon Hounsou, and Amber Heard.