Aquaman director James Wan says new technology made filming the sequel less painful for actors

News
By published

"On the first movie, we really put the actors through a lot of physical pain"

image of Jason Momoa as Aquaman
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Aquaman director James Wan has admitted that filming the first movie put Jason Momoa and his fellow DCEU actors "through a lot of physical pain." However, it seems like the upcoming sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, saw a big improvement for its stars using new 3D technology. 

"On the first movie, we really put the actors through a lot of physical pain, you know hanging them on wires and what we call tuning forks," Wan explained during the currently ongoing CinemaCon (via CinemaBlend). 

"It was not the most comfortable apparatus to be strapped into. With this film we were able to now embrace new technology where we literally captured… literally putting like 100 cameras on the actors, capturing their performances and then taking what they do and then applying that to a 3D version of themselves."

He added: "It’s less painful for the actors, which makes it easier for me as well, because they’re not screaming and yelling at me… but the most important thing is it really frees up the filmmaking to really do things I’ve never been able to do before. And that is exciting."

Alongside Momoa, who reprises the role of Arthur Curry (AKA Aquaman), Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, and Dolph Lundgren will also return as Mera, Orm, and King Nereus, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is back as antagonist Black Manta. 

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.