Aquaman's release date is inching closer. Critics have seen it, and you can read all about it in our Aquaman review. In addition, we chatted with two of the movie's stars to find out how much they know about fish. No, really. Check it out here, and find out what else we learned about Aquaman from director James Wan in this gallery.

It was exciting enough to get a brief glimpse of Aquaman at Comic-Con this year, so you can imagine how it felt when we got an invitation to join director James Wan in the edit bay on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California recently. During the post production process, Wan--most famous for horror movies like The Conjuring, Saw, and Insidious--worked hard to make Aquaman the best movie he possibly could, as puzzle pieces like visual effects, music, and more fell into place.

It was during that process that we got to sit down and chat with Wan--and view some of the more finished scenes in the movie. Those scenes included the movie's opening, an extended fight scene between Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and King Orm (Patrick Wilson), and more. If you don't want to know anything about Aquaman's plot, stop reading now!

Based on the footage we saw, it's safe to say Aquaman's first act will focus on Queen Atlanta (Nicole Kidman) and Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison). Their romance will set the stage for the rest of the movie, from Aquaman and Mera's (Amber Heard) own relationship to the hero's deep seated feeling that he doesn't belong in either world, under the sea or on land. The movie won't skimp on action, either--there's an intense fight scene in which Nicole Kidman shows what Queen Atlanta is capable of as she defends Thomas and the young Arthur from Atlantean soldiers.

Later in the movie, Arthur will head down to Atlantis to claim what he sees as his birthright: the throne. That involves a ritualistic duel with King Orm (Patrick Wilson)--a battle to the death in a gigantic underwater arena with what seems like all of Atlanta looking on (we've caught glimpses of this scene in the trailer). The fight shows off some impressive underwater choreography, but it's not all serious--there's even an octopus drummer, which borders on Flintstones levels of camp, but somehow seems to work.

In between scenes, we got the opportunity to ask Wan whatever we wanted about the actors, the story, and the many challenges of adapting Aquaman to the big screen. Click ahead to read what he had to say on a variety of topics, from including Aquaman's classic orange and green costume to the movie's comparatively light tone.

Aquaman hits theaters December 14.