We’ve seen barely anything of James Wan’s Aquaman solo film, and there’s a reason for that. The director recently explained on Twitter that, despite the movie’s December release date, there hasn’t been a true teaser released because the movie simply isn’t ready. There’s a lot of VFX work still to be done, and with the movie now shooting pickups, it’ll be a while before a substantial chunk of it is finished. But that didn’t stop Wan and DC from showing off some choice clips at CinemaCon on Tuesday to whet fans’ appetites.

Wan gathered onstage with stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen, as well as emcee Will Arnett (“You are the best f---ing Batman,” Momoa told him). “I didn’t want to bring anything, but they made me,” Wan said before the footage debuted. He also explained that this shouldn’t be construed as an official teaser, just a few scenes and shots that he had deemed ready for the public. According to The Hollywood Reporter:

The footage included Momoa's Aquaman pulling a submarine out of the water, what appeared to be shark horses and vistas of Atlantean skyscrapers. The villains of the pic, including Abdul-Mateen's Black Manta and Wilson's Ocean Master. also appeared briefly. There were also plenty of choice one-liners, including: “I’m a blunt instrument, and I am damned good at it.”

Last month, Wan took to Twitter to explain what the hold up was on any sort of teaser or trailer for the movie: “This movie is filled to the gills with VFX, and the process is as slow and laborious as a sea-slug! Yes, even shots for the trailers take forever to do, and I refuse to put out anything that might be construed as subpar.” It’s frustrating that we haven’t gotten a chance to at least gauge the vibe of Aquaman. I love picking apart trailers as much as the next fan, but props to Wan for refusing to send anything out into the world he isn’t happy with. That’s gotta be tough working for a company as huge as DC but it’s encouraging that they’re letting him take the lead here.

Aquaman opens in theaters December 21.

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