Jeff Nichols Shares His Interesting and Darker Plan for His Scrapped AQUAMAN Movie
Back in 2014, writer and director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special) pitched an Aquaman movie that ultimately never got picked up, but it sure would’ve been awesome! This information was initially revealed in the Sony email hack, and at the time, Jason Momoa was still attached to star in the film at the time. Nicolas’ vision of the film would’ve been a lot different than what James Wan delivered. Nichols’ film would’ve been much darker and it sounds like it would have been much more badass.
During a recent interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nicolas shared details of his pitch saying:
"I still have scenes from [Aquaman] in my head that would've been good. They would've been quite different from the film that was made. It wasn't ever feasible…I liked the older Aquaman, like when he had a harpoon for a hand. He was a fallen king and his son had died. He was in mourning.
"Obviously, from this brief pitch, you can see it would've sold hundreds of dollars worth of tickets! That stuff is fun to noodle on, but we got a lot of those movies now. There are a lot of stories in the world. It's OK to spend time time telling some other ones."
I would’ve loved to see that version of Aquaman get made, but yeah… Hollywood would never have made that movie because it was just too awesome for them. It’s a shame these studio executives can’t see a great vision for something when it punches them in the face.
Nichols’ pitch was inspired by Peter David's epic '90s run that reinvented Aquaman with long-hair, a beard, and a badass harpoon hand. David previously talked about that:
"I decided that I had to radically change his appearance, that that would be a good start. So I gave him the long hair and I gave him the beard, and I developed the idea of him losing his right hand and having it replaced with a harpoon. I thought that would make him look a lot more dynamic. I mean, if the old Aquaman walks into a room, you'd go, 'Hey Aquaman! What's going on?' If the long-haired bearded guy with a scowl walks in and he's got a harpoon on his arm, you're gonna go, 'Um, yes? What can I do to help you, sir? don't kill me.' I wanted that kind of gravity to his appearance — so that when this guy walked into a room — you KNEW he was a bad-ass. He was NOT someone you wanted to screw with."
Yeah, Jason Momoa did sport the long hair and the beard, but I like the old mourning fallen king angle of the story… and yes, the harpoon hand! What do you think about Nichols’ pitch?