We’re still over a year away from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will introduce Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in preparation for 2017’s Justice League: Part One, but Warner Bros. is already looking further ahead to see how the King of the Seven Seas will start swimming. That’s not to diminish planning ahead on what could be a difficult sell to audiences who see the character as a punchline from how he’s been referenced in Entourage and parodied on South Park.

As we previously reported, Momoa is signed to a four-picture deal, although three of those four pictures are going to be team-up films. His solo picture won’t hit until 2018, and while two scripts are currently being written (a standard practice in Hollywood) Latino Review says Warner Bros. is aiming big with the superhero’s standalone picture. LR reports that their setting up Aquaman “for a world-building spectacle blockbuster like Avatar.”

In terms of specifics, the studio is reportedly looking at Karl Urban to possibly play the villain, and they’re waiting for Star Trek 3 to finish shooting so he’ll be available. Will they go with Black Manta or Ocean Master? Or will they go the Batman Begins route by choosing a smaller villain in order to get a bigger villain in the sequel?

As for the director, Warner Bros. has been aiming for respected directors and actors for their projects like Michelle MacLaren directing Wonder Woman and Ezra Miller starring in The Flash, but LR is saying that 300: Rise of an Empire helmer Noam Murro might get the Aquaman gig. While they point out that Murro is friendly with Zack Snyder through their relationship with 300, but I think (or maybe I just hope) that the studio is setting their sites higher than a guy who basically made the first 300 but with boats and a darker palette.