Aquaman: James Wan says film will be in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Ark

Aquaman and Indiana Jones don’t seem to have too much in common, besides being two handsome gentleman, but Aquaman director James Wan describes his upcoming superhero tale as being in the spirit of Harrison Ford’s first film as the famed archaeologist/adventurer.

Speaking to ET on Wednesday, Wan teased his upcoming entry in the DC movie universe. “I kind of don’t want to give too much away but know this: The spirit that I’m going for is like a classic sort of swashbuckling action adventure, sort of high seas adventure story,” said the Furious 7 director. “It’s a quest story potentially in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Romancing the Stone.”

Before starring in Aquaman, both of Wan’s stars, Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, will be seen in next year’s Justice League, which the director thinks will give a brief glimpse into what he has planned.

“I think Amber [Heard] and Jason Momoa, in their moments in Justice League, is going to give the rest of the world a flavor of what their own standalone movie could be,” shared Wan. “And that is just scratching the surface of what I plan to do.”

Back in June, Wan, who has primarily directed horror films, revealed that he had the option between helming Aquaman and The Flash, choosing the ruler of Atlantis for the opportunity to build his own unique world.

“The thing that ultimately pushed me more towards Aquaman is I love the possibility of creating a whole new world,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom. And also, I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. [Laughs] I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him!”

Aquaman swims into theaters on July 27, 2018.