Summary
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to release in December 2023, with new details emerging about the storyline and the changes that have occurred for Arthur Curry since his last solo film.
- The development of the sequel has faced challenges, including release delays, a lawsuit involving a star, and poor test screening reviews. However, this may create opportunities for Jason Momoa's future role in the DC Universe.
- The majority of the original cast will be returning for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, including Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film will feature a new villain, played by Vincent Regan, and a new costume for Aquaman. New underwater filming technology will be used for more realistic underwater scenes.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer makes it clear that a lot has changed for Arthur Curry since his last solo film installment.
The development of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been beset by upheaval at DC Studios, release delays, and a high-profile lawsuit involving one of its stars. With future solo films for Henry Cavill's Superman, Ben Affleck's Batman, and Ray Fisher's Cyborg nonexistent, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 3 canceled, and The Flash embroiled in controversy concerning Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa's Aquaman was considered the default linchpin of the DC Universe's future. With a scheduled release date finally set for December 20, 2023, new details are beginning to surface about what story could unfold in the sequel, with the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer reveals finally shedding more solid light on what to expect from the film.
The Latest Aquaman 2 News
The newest information for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a revision to the release date. Official announcements from Warner Bros. see the film move two days back, going from December 20, 2023, to a current release date of December 22, 2023.
Other than that, the most up-to-date updates involve Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was shown to attendees at 2023's CinemaCon, which featured Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta wielding the Black Trident, a source of ultimae power, and explored the brotherly dynamic between Arthur Curry and Patrick Wilson's Orm. While there were intense discussions over whether Amber Heard would continue to be involved in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom following her infamous legal battle with Johnny Depp, the new footage briefly showed Heard as Mera in the film. While the release of new footage is exciting, it might not exactly be smooth sailing for the Aquaman sequel.
According to The Direct, recent test screenings for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom have been received abysmally, with a trusted DCU source quoted as stating that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom might be "one of the worst DCEU movies." These reports were corroborated when it was revealed that Warner Bros. had ordered reshoots and story adjustments for the Aquaman sequel. This might not be bad news for new DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, however, as it might create the opportunity for Momoa to assume a different role in the DCU's future, as the actor has revealed he's been eyeing Lobo as a potential future role.
When Is Aquaman 2 Coming Out? (Theaters & Streaming)
As with most movies in production around the time of 2020's COVID-19 pandemic, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's release date has ebbed and flowed. Arthur Curry's second coming was initially slated for December 2022, but a wholesale DC Universe reshuffle saw Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom drift to a new position of March 17, 2023. It was then announced in August 2022 that it had been pushed back once again, with the new release date falling on December 25, 2023. After this, another change would bring the release date forward to December 20, 2023, before a final move back to the final, current Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom release date of December 22, 2023.
Many of the most recent Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom delays were reportedly due to the need for more post-production VFX processing time. As for whether Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and other DC movies will have a dual big and small screen release, at present Warner Bros. movies become available for streaming on HBO Max after a 45-day exclusivity window in theaters, which means the Aquaman sequel would hit HBO Max sometime in mid-January or early February 2024.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods was also pushed back from its Christmas 2022 release, though this sequel would release months later on March 17, 2023.
Aquaman's Main Cast Are Returning For The Lost Kingdom
The majority of Aquaman's cast are returning for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which will star Jason Momoa in the lead role of Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman, the half-human, half-Atlantean King of Atlantis. Patrick Wilson will return as Orm Marius, Curry's brother and former King of Atlantis, Amber Heard is returning as Mera, the daughter of King Nereus, though reportedly in a reduced role. Yahya Abdull-Mateen II will be back as the film's villain, David Kane, a.k.a. Black Manta, and Dolph Lundgren, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, and Nicole Kidman are also returning as King Nereus, Dr. Stephen Shin, Thomas Curry, and Atlanna, respectively.
Vincent Regan will make his DCEU debut as Atlan, the first King of Atlantis. Regan is replacing Graham McTavish who portrayed Atlan in Aquaman, and taking over from Julian Lewis Jones, who appeared as Atlan in flashback sequences for Justice League and Zack Snyder's Justice League. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will also feature Indya Moore as Karshon, Jani Zhao as Stingray, and Pilou Asbæk of Game of Thrones fame in an undisclosed role. Notably, Willem Dafoe will not be returning for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as Nuidis Vulko, Curry's mentor, reportedly due to scheduling issues.
Similarly, Aquaman 2's Ben Affleck's Batman cameo has been reportedly cut from the movie. This is apparently both due to issues with what this appearance would suggest for the DCEU - especially after George Clooney replaced Affleck in The Flash's ending - and because it would tie Aquaman's sequel closer to the complex state the movie universe is currently in.
Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom Story Details
James Wan's working title for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was "Necrus" – a name fans of the hero's DC Comics adventures will be familiar with. Essentially a darker Atlantis, Necrus is an underwater city ruled by a tyrant who seeks domination over the surface world, but the kingdom is unstable, only flickering into existence thanks to the positioning of an alien satellite. A version of Necrus appears to be the "lost kingdom" of the Aquaman sequel's title, based on the enemies Aquaman and company are shown battling. The official synopsis for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom provided in December 2021 also mentioned an "ancient power", which was the first reference to a new weapon used by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta: the Black Trident.
The 2023 trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom confirmed the Black Trident would be a key component of the movie, with Black Manta appearing to use it in his plans to destroy Arthur Curry's family to get revenge for the death of the villain's father, which is set to be the focal plot point of the film. This focus perhaps best explains the alliance that is shown between Aquaman and Orm despite the events of the first movie, as they work together to protect the royal bloodline - which importantly includes Arthur's infant child, who was also revealed in the trailer, and who audiences are especially concerned for, given Aquaman's son dies around this age in an infamous comic storyline.
Amber Heard's Mera May Have A Reduced Role In Aquaman 2
The legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard became a phenomenon during the summer of 2022. Heard claimed the ongoing Johnny Depp controversy had pushed Warner Bros. to reduce her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, even itting she was unsure that she would be included in the final cut of the film at all. DC's Walter Hamada confirmed that Mera would not be featured as prominently in the Aquaman sequel, and also itted that he considered recasting Mera, though this didn't occur.
The libel case has since been settled, but the true extent of Heard's role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is yet to be seen. However, the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer itself potentially s this, as it includes a brief shot of Mera, seemingly attempting to break through a barrier of some description. It's possible this is either revealing a scene between Black Manta and Mera - as the barrier looks as though it could be the porthole of his underwater vessel - or otherwise alludes to her getting trapped during the events of the film, as has been theorized by audiences. Either way, this could be foreshadowing for Mera either being killed off, or detained for the course of the events of the sequel.
Arthur Curry Has A New Costume In Aquaman 2
Jason Momoa will don two suits in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The first is Arthur Curry's traditional, comic-inspired gold and green ensemble, variations of which have been used in Aquaman's past DC Universe outings. The second outfit is a brand new metallic blue "stealth" suit. This latter costume is based on Aquaman's 1986 Neal Pozner comic run and, as the name implies, is designed to offer better underwater camouflage than Arthur's traditional bright and glittery gear. Its inclusion in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom points toward some kind of infiltration mission, but the sleeker design also exemplifies the more mature tone teased by James Wan.
Aquaman 2 Uses New Underwater Filming Technology
It would be difficult to deliver an Aquaman film without underwater scenes, since characters are required to interact, converse, and emote beneath the waves. In 2018's Aquaman, this effect was achieved by harnessing actors to a rig that simulates floating, before adding CGI water in post-production. Momoa previously described this process as extremely uncomfortable, which is part of the reason Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom uses a different approach. According to James Wan (via Cinemablend), the sequel replaced harness rigs with performance capture, filming with multiple cameras before digitally transferring these movements onto a 3-D model - the finished effect will be fascinating to see.
