Aquaman 2 Director Breaks Silence On Chaotic DCEU Set Reports

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Summary

Aquaman director James Wan addresses reports of a toxic work environment and emphasizes the need to stay calm amidst the “noise” and false narratives.
Wan, known for being a private person who avoids social media fights, highlights the disparity between the reality and the exaggerated claims surrounding the movie.
He clarifies that the reshoots for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom were limited to seven or eight days, a normal occurrence for a film of this scale, due to scheduling difficulties.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan is speaking out about the chaotic DCEU reports that have been coming out about his upcoming superhero movie. The DCEU is wrapping up its decade-long run this December with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which will be the final DCEU movie for the franchise. However, the road to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has not been an easy one, with several release date delays, reported problems happening on set, reshoots, and supposed lackluster test screenings.

Following the reports that came out about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom having a toxic work environment, Wan spoke to Empire Magazine (via Comicbook.com) about the claims. Wan is the first one to break his silence as Momoa and other Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom cast members have yet to speak out. Without referencing any specifics, Wan stressed that he has “had to learn to be more Zen in dealing with all the noise around me,” sharing the following:

I’ve had to learn to be more Zen in dealing with all the noise around me, for sure. I’m a pretty private person. I don’t get on social media and have fights, but it’s difficult because this narrative has emerged that is not the reality. The noise is fun to write about, and it gets clicks, but people don’t know the truth. We probably did seven or eight days of reshoots, which is nothing for a movie of this size. It was just spread out because it’s so hard to get your actors back once you’ve finished the initial shoot.

Aquaman 2’s Behind The Scenes Drama Explained

On October 10, 2023, a Variety report was released about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, using documents from Amber Heard’s therapist, Dr. Dawn Hughes, where “raw notes” detailed some of the supposed behavior by Momoa and Wan towards Heard. With Momoa, he had allegedly harassed Heard by dressing up as Johnny Depp while also getting drunk as his Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom co-star was in the midst of her defamation lawsuit with her former ex-husband. Momoa had also allegedly tried to get Heard fired, but Warner Bros. never pulled the trigger as Elon Musk supposedly had his legal team send a “scorched-earth letter” to them if they tried to remove her as Mera.

In the case of Wan, Heard had claimed that he would raise his voice at her and not even let her post anything about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, adding that “nobody could take selfies with me on set given blackout.” According to Heard, the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director was “unsupportive” and supposedly treated her “like a pariah.” Prior to Wan’s Empire Magazine quote, a DC spokesperson had stated that “James is known for treating members of his cast and crew with the utmost respect and for fostering a positive, collaborative environment on set — the ‘Aquaman’ films were no exception.”

With only two months left to go before Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom gets released, time will tell if all of the BTS-drama will have any effect on the movie’s box office results. Following Wan’s comments, it will be intriguing to see if Momoa or anyone else involved with production will actually make any statements on the reports. If the SAG-AFTRA strike is over by then, the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom press tour – if there actually is one – will be interesting to follow as the cast and crew are bound to be asked about the initial accusations.

Source: Empire Magazine (via Comicbook.com)