Summary
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom faces an uphill battle as the final film in the struggling “old” DCU, with recent films failing at the box office.
- Director James Wan acknowledges the absurdity of promoting the Aquaman 2 trailer with a “trailer for a trailer,” laughing along with fans.
- The future of the DCU remains uncertain, with management changes, reshoots, and cameo cancelations causing a disjointed mess and fans losing interest.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom faces an uphill struggle this December as the final movie in the “old” DCU. While there is no doubting the popularity of star Jason Momoa, the franchise has become something of a poisoned chalice of late, with no film of the last year being able to gain traction at the box office. It seems that even the movie’s own director isn’t taking things too seriously, as James Wan agreed with fans complaints about the “trailer” revealed earlier this week.
The new adventure for the Atlantean will see Momoa’s Arthur Curry finding his underwater kingdom being put in danger once more, with him having to join forces with a former adversary for the greater good. On Monday, Wan shared his excitement over the announcement that the Aquaman 2 trailer will finally be released this week, but subsequently laughed along with fans who questioned the “trailer for a trailer.” In the post shared by My Time To Shine Hello on X, Wan accepted the ridiculousness of the early promotion for the trailer.
There has been a lot of speculation about how Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will actually close out the former DCEU and pave the way for James Gunn’s new iteration of the franchise, which will include Jason Momoa in some capacity – although whether it will be as Aquaman or another character is still something that has not been clarified.
Aquaman 2 Has Been Forced To Change By James Gunn.
2023 was supposed to be the final huzzah of the DCEU, with The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom expected to be the big finale to the franchise in its current form. However, management changes at Warner Bros. Discovery, the introduction of James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEOs of DC Studios and architects of the DCU’s future, and a general lack of interest from fans led to the year being a complete financial disaster.
In the midst of the upheaval, it was revealed recently that just like The Flash, the Aquaman sequel has undergone a number of reshoots, cameo cancelations and all those little things that usually result in a movie becoming a disjointed mess. Among the changes was a scrapped appearance by Michael Keaton as Batman, which was replaced by Ben Affleck’s Batman dropping in instead, only for that to be removed at the reported request of James Gunn so as not to tease a future for that iteration of the Dark Knight.
Previously, James Wan talked about his approach to his second Aquaman movie, which he is not looking at as part of a larger story. He said:
“Well, Aquaman – even the first film – has always been a very standalone film. That was always our approach: that it kind of lives in its own world, and that’s kind of how we’ve approached The Lost Kingdom as well.”
In many ways, the “standalone” feel of many DCEU movies is what caused so many issues for the franchise, as many of those who entered the story with Zack Snyder’s films expected to see something much more intricately connected than anything that has been produced in the last several years. Whether Gunn and Safran’s plans can avoid the same pitfalls is something we are still a couple of years away from finding out, and for now, the legacy of the DCEU all rests on the damp shoulders of Momoa’s Aquaman – and that is a lot of weight to carry.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released on December 20.
