In many ways, it’s surprising that audiences have not yet had a chance to see Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman battle evil in a standalone movie. Perhaps this is due to the character’s past animated and live-action television realizations in which his crime-fighting potential has been overlooked in favor of emphasizing his ability to speak to dolphins and generally swim around a lot.

It’s reasonable to think that mainstream audiences likely don’t know much about Aquaman and aside from his brief onscreen arrival in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the character simply hasn’t had enough quality screen time to showcase who he is and what he can do. This will soon change when Jason Momoa takes on the role in 2017’s Justice League Part One as well as 2018’s standalone Aquaman movie.

It’s especially encouraging to note that when Aquaman does arrive in theaters come 2018, the movie will have been brought to life by The Conjuring and Saw director James Wan. Many questions persist as to how Wan will approach the story of Arthur Curry and a recent interview with MTV News has (for the time being) shed a little more light on the issue of Wan’s version of the Alantean King as well as the question of the character’s origins.

According to Wan:

Though there isn’t a lot in that statement to help define exactly what Wan’s vision entails in terms of an origin story, the director did speak about his fondness for Aquaman as a sort of underdog character, and the opportunity his upcoming film will provide in bringing something altogether unexpected to life.

“There’s Justice League that happens before it, so I have to be respectful to that. But in a lot of ways… it’s a continuation but there are origin elements as well — and that’s the story that I’m excited to tell.”

“A big part of it was me telling them what potential I saw in this character. As we all know, Aquaman is somewhat the butt of the joke in the superhero world. There’s something cool about that. I love the idea of being the underdog, coming in with a take on this underdog character and completely blow people’s expectations away. Like, ’Oh, you thought he was going to be a wimpy character? No no no.’ It’s going to be so cool.”

Aquaman’s more prominent role in Justice League will certainly give audiences advance knowledge of his roots, but Wan’s ability to create a truly unique and enthralling experience should not be underestimated. The horror director triumphed with 2013’s The Conjuring – a small film that seemingly came out of nowhere and went on to become one of the highest-grossing horror films of all time, raking in over $380 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. With The Conjuring 2 currently on its way, Wan could very well be poised for yet another big hit (following both The Conjuring and last year’s Furious 7).

Wan’s outstanding creative abilities as well as his bring-it-on attitude have the potential to lift Aquaman from his underdog status and surprise those who may have written the character off. Audiences have waited far too long for a quality representation of Arthur Curry and James Wan now seems primed to fill that gap.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is now playing in U.S. theaters. Suicide Squad will arrive on August 5, 2016, followed by Wonder Woman on June 2, 2017; Justice League Part One on November 17, 2017; The Flash on March 16, 2018; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League Part Two on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on June 19, 2020

Source: MTV News