Patrick Wilson

Upcoming DC film, ‘Aquaman’ will feature a villain to rival even the biggest and baddest of the MCU. Patrick Wilson, who will play Arthur Curry’s half-brother in the film, gave a recent interview where he spilled some details on ‘Aquaman’ antagonist King Orm. Wilson said:

“He’s kind of an eco-warrior. He’s got a very clear gripe with the surface world, which has been polluting his oceans for centuries. And that’s something for me — I’m sure for you too — that’s very easy to understand. If somebody was just constantly polluting our air and ruining how we lived…”

This topic is pretty timely, as it will come on the heels of UN chief António Guterres issuing a warning at the G7 summit last week of a “global emergency” due to oceanic pollution. Guterres noted:

“Unless we change course, plastic waste could soon outweigh all the fish in the oceans … It kills marine life and is doing major harm to communities that depend on fishing and tourism.”

This won’t be the first time a comic-book movie villain has a politically or socially charged motive. ‘Black Panther’ antagonist Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) made his fight against racial inequality and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ big bad Thanos (Josh Brolin) longed to wipe out half the population in the universe due to overpopulation concerns. While their methods may have been questionable at best, their issues with society are shared with many.

‘Aquaman’ villain Orm hopes to unite the seven underwater kingdoms in a war against the surface world, which doesn’t go over well with Curry (Jason Momoa).

Wilson has worked with ‘Aquaman’ director James Wan on both the ‘Insidious’ and ‘The Conjuring’ franchises. Wan mentioned in an interview that he chose Wilson for the role because Orm doesn’t present like an obvious villain, so Wan wanted an actor the audience would find likable. And, he just loves working with him! Wan said:

“Patrick is such a talented actor and a chameleon as well, he can disappear into any role. Orm’s got a soft spot for his brother who lives on the surface world and if anything just wants him to rule Atlantis and the world together, but his brother doesn’t see it that way. A lot of the clashes they have stem from their different upbringings. So I didn’t want to cast a typical villain actor.”

‘Aquaman’ opens in theaters on December 21.