EW's Aquaman cover shows a very intense Jason Momoa

To read more on Aquaman, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now; you can also get the cover with Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, and Nicole Kidman online or at Barnes & Noble. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

Ahoy there! This week’s EW cover story is on the highly anticipated stand-alone Aquaman movie starring Jason Momoa, who gives us one of our most intense (and soaking wet) cover photos ever. Below you’ll find Momoa’s cover plus a first-look cover revealing his costars Amber Heard (as Mera) and Nicole Kidman (as Queen Atlanna).

Aquaman is Warner Bros. and DC’s biggest swing yet, betting huge on a character who was mocked in pop culture for decades. Tapping hulking Game of Thrones star Momoa to introduce a fresh take on the half-Atlantean, half-human Arthur Curry across two previous superhero ensemble films was merely the first step. The next was tapping acclaimed director James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious, Furious 7) to deliver a fantasy film coming Dec. 21 that’s unlike any we’ve seen before.

“The water world my movie takes place in is so separate and so far apart from previous DC movies it’s like I’m making my own sci-fi fantasy film,” Wan says. “This is a whole new underwater world nobody has seen before in live action.”

There are Atlanteans riding great white sharks, giant octopi, seven different underwater kingdoms, trench-dwelling cannibals, and even sea dragons (Wan’s fearsome take on the oft-mocked image of Aquaman riding a seahorse in the Super Friends cartoons).

Yet the film’s biggest surprise might be Momoa, who gives a humor-filled performance that finally brings the actor’s actual larger-than-life personality to the big screen. “Rarely has a superhero character been married to the real-life actor as much as Aquaman and Jason Momoa,” producer Peter Safran declares. “He’s authentically from two worlds, he’s this real physical specimen, he’s got this humor which he’s never been allowed to play before — in every regard he is Aquaman.”

This week’s issue dives into the world of Atlantiswith the behind-the-scenes story of Momoa’s casting, interviews with Wan and the cast, and exclusive photos revealing the underwater world. Check out our two collectible covers:

To read more on Aquaman, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now; you can also get the cover with Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, and Nicole Kidman online or at Barnes & Noble. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.