A sequel to ‘Aquaman’ is a no-brainer, considering it’s the highest-grossing DC superhero movie of all time, but before that happens, it looks as though Warner Brothers is taking fans diving into ‘The Trench’. The deadly, flesh-eating creatures appeared in ‘Aquaman’ swimming between the sea king and the wormhole he needed to pass through in order to find the Trident of Atlan.
New writers Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald have been hired to pen a screenplay for a horror movie starring these aquatic monsters. Though James Wan may not direct, the director made his name on horror flicks, helming ‘Saw’, ‘Dead Silence’, ‘Death Sentence’, the ‘Conjuring’ movies, the first two ‘Insidious’ films, and ‘Annabelle’. Even if he doesn’t direct ‘The Trench’, Wan is pretty much guaranteed to be an executive producer and will likely bring his horror stylings to this project.
This picture is reportedly going to have a considerably more modest budget than the average DC movie, but considering that The Trench were already designed and appeared in ‘Aquaman’, that covers a big chunk of the cost right there. The film is also not expected to include Jason Momoa or any of the other stars of ‘Aquaman’.
These carnivores first appeared in 2011’s ‘Aquaman’ #1, when the series was relaunched for DC’s New 52 reboot, and were created by Geof Johns and Ivan Reis. These were Atlanteans, but when Atlantis sank, their society was plunged into the deep… well, trench, where they were cut off from the rest of their civilization and they devolved into the mindless monsters they are today. In addition to eating humans and other living creatures, they are also cannibalistic, devouring one another at times.
Having read the New 52 ‘Aquaman’, I always thought that The Trench were made to be showcased in a film, but was disappointed at their relatively small role in ‘Aquaman’. It should be cool to see them in their own film, although the idea of this movie not including Aquaman himself is surprising. It will also be interesting to see how audiences react to a horror movie set in a superhero film universe but devoid of actual superheroes. But if it works, this could open the door for other films that feature characters and locations from comics, but that aren’t the same large-scale tentpoles that such movies are usually positioned as.
What do you think? Would you be interested in seeing an Aquaman-free ‘Trench’ horror flick?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
