Aquaman might be one of the most highly anticipated DC Extended Universe (DCEU) properties. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is already winning over audiences in just the brief clips we’ve seen of him in the Justice League trailer.
But Jason Momoa isn’t the only big name actor appearing in Aquaman. 80s action legend Dolph Lundgren who starred in Rocky IV, Masters of the Universe, and Universal Soldier will be taking on the role of King Nereus.
Aquaman director James Wan revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter how he came to cast Lundgren for the role:
When I was in the process of writing this character [King Nereus] in the world of Aquaman, a friend of mine, [director] Mike Mendez, was working with him on one of his films, and Mike was just raving about how great Dolph was. And I thought ‘Oh my god, Dolph would be great for this role as well!’ So it kinda came about from that roundabout way.
Along with revealing how Lundgren got the job for King Nereus, he also praised the actor’s talents.
“He’s a really strong actor. I don’t think anyone gives him enough credit for how serious he actually takes his craft. He’s taking it very seriously on this film.”
Not only did Wan shower praise on Lundgren, but he also discussed some of the difficulty he’s been having with Aquaman due to the fact the movie will predominantly take place under water.
It’s a very technically challenging shoot to be on. Working with water, and even the dry-for-wet sequences are very complex. … Our equivalent of two people sitting around chatting in the underwater world is super complicated. You have to think about CG with the hair, and how their clothing moves, how are they floating, what kind of rig we put them on and all that stuff.
Wan then went on to explain the difficulty to stay true to his promise to use as little CGI as possible.
That just makes it very difficult and time-sucking and time-challenging to do all of this. So it’s not an easy shoot — but hopefully it will pay off in spades down the line.
Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, Amber Heard as Mera, and Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus.
It is scheduled for a December 21, 2018 release.