Aquaman: James Wan Reveals How Dolph Lundgren Was Cast

Aquamandirector James Wan has revealed how Dolph Lundgren ended up joining the Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe . The studio officially launch the DCEU last year with Zack Snyder’sBatman V Superman : Dawn of Justice , in which Jason Momoa made his brief debut as Arthur Curry , aka Aquaman . The actor will be reprising his role in Snyder’sJustice Leaguethis fall alongside the rest of the populace ’s fine heroes : Superman ( Henry Cavill ) , Batman ( Ben Affleck ) , Wonder Woman ( Gal Gadot ) , The Flash ( Ezra Miller ) , and Cyborg ( Ray Fisher ) .

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In addition to filmingAquaman , Wan has been busy kick upstairs the latest installment in hisConjuringfranchise , Annabelle : Creation- and in an interview withTHR , the director detailed the backstory behind Lundgren ’s participation with the upcoming comic book picture show :

" When I was in the process of writing this character reference [ King Nereus ] in the public of Aquaman , a admirer of mine , [ manager ] Mike Mendez , was working with [ Dolph Lundgren ] on one of his moving-picture show , and Mike was just raving about how great Dolph was . And I thought ' Oh my god , Dolph would be with child for this role as well ! ' So it kind of came about from that circuitous path . "

The theater director also praised Lundgren ’s regality , as well as his represent chopper , which is something that many masses may not give him enough credit for since he has previously established himself as an action adept :

" He ’s a really solid actor . I do n’t think anyone gives him enough credit for how serious he actually takes his craft . He ’s take it very seriously on this film . "

The movie that Wan credit was the low - budget activeness comedyDon’t Kill It , which released earlier this year . Lundgren never stopped make movies , but in recent years , he ’s relegate himself to small movie , with the lone exception of Sylvester Stallone’sThe Expendablesseries . Now , in addition to returning to blockbuster movies , the worker will evidently be return to theRockyfranchise by appearing in Stallone ’s upcomingCreedsequel . However , before he reprises his purpose as Ivan Drago , Lundgren will play the king of the underwater nation of Xebel inAquamannext year .