A leaked toy from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom offered a look at Jason Momoa as the title character in DC’s sequel.
Aquaman 2 had a long road to travel towards its release date. After the original 2018 film earned massive success at the box office, Warner Bros. was quick to greenlight a sequel, but due to COVID-19 and production setbacks, Lost Kingdom suffered numerous delays.
Now, with the movie set to release at the end of 2023 (barring any further complications) the marketing campaign should kick off imminently. And with any superhero movie media push comes merchandise.
A new piece of leaked merch from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (via ActionToyNow on Instagram) showed the first promotional art of Jason Momoa’s title character Arthur Curry aka, Aquaman.
The Aquaman vs. Black Manta Battle Set from Spin Master showcased Momoa’s Aquaman brandishing his Atlantean trident in the top right-hand corner of the toy’s packaging:
A zoomed-in view offers a closer look at the actor’s face in character. Curiously, Arthur’s irises appear colorless again as they were in Justice League, but they were not colorless in Aquaman, which was made after the 2017 team-up film.
For comparison to footage from the actual movie, a screengrab from a DCEU sizzle reel released in 2022 can be seen below, featuring Aquaman in the forthcoming sequel.
The back of the box shows Curry fighting Black Manta (played in the movie by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who brings along a fearsome-looking submarine. Whether or not this vessel is actually seen in the sequel remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be the first time a toy company produced a vehicle that wasn’t in the film.
Could Aquaman 2 Get Pushed Back Again?
So, after suffering a year-long delay, could Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom fall victim to yet another release date setback? At this point, it’s difficult to say, as the situation is very fluid.
Obviously, Hollywood is smack dab in the middle of two major work stoppages; the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild have been on strike for some time, leaving film studios gun-shy about releasing their projects in theaters without the promotional backing of their stars.
The most recent word on Aquaman 2 is that it will hold to its December slot, but again, as the strikes drag on, things remain up in the air.
Currently, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to swim into cinemas on December 25.
