Atlantis is incredible. From the moment we first see the full underwater metropolis, it is a visual marvel. There are enough visual details to paint a picture of an ancient and vast empire that has gone through several transformations over the centuries, without overwhelming the audience with exposition. The world of Atlantis is full of legends, monsters, internal conflict, and much more, whether Arthur Curry is on screen or not. It’s these details that help make the underwater city feel like a lived-in civilization.

According to Wan, what makes Atlantis effective as a fictional place is that it feels alien, but is still very much of our world. There’s a sense of place, even if it isn’t real.

“The crazy thing is all those fantasy movies take place in a fantasy world, but ours takes place actually on Earth. It’s on Earth, it’s in the ocean,” Wan said. “But that aspect of it allows me to kind of really lean further fantasy, and just embrace and make it feel like […] we’re on a whole different planet, when in reality technically our story takes place on Earth.”

Yes. Atlantis is DC’s answer to Middle-earth, which makes total sense. Why start with Jack Kirby’s Fourth World or some other alien planet when you can have the same impact without leaving Earth? Besides, Peter Jackson did turn down the movie twice, meaning they were thinking of a fantasy director for this for years.

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