Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom may not be the last time that DC fans get to see Jason Momoa dive back into the role of the half-Atlantean/half-human Arthur Curry, according to director James Wan.
As reported by Screen Rant, a trailer screening included remarks from Wan that Aquaman’s story has potential to continue, just as the film’s ending suggested. “What I can speak to that is the Jason Momoa story as Aquaman definitely has more places to go,” Wan said. “Where we go at the end of this movie, it does tee up something bigger — or, not bigger, but it does tee up a direction for that story and I don’t want to speak to that just because it’s the end of the movie.”
Jason Momoa returns as Aquaman for a new kind of story
The sequel to Momoa’s Aquaman is set to hit theaters in December this year, and is meant to be the final movie in the current era of the DC Universe. As such, it won’t have any connection to The Flash, which stirred up past and present DC live-action heroes in a multiverse event. Instead, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom centers on Aquaman’s alliance with his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, as the two put aside their disputes in order to face Black Manta together.
This also gives the story a somewhat different tone from its predecessor. As Wan stated, “The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie.”
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is returning as his villain Black Manta, who has gained the vast power of the Black Trident and fueled by a desire for revenge after the death of his father. However, Aquaman’s Atlantean mentor Nuidis Vulko won’t appear in the sequel, as actor Willem Dafoe didn’t have space in his schedule for the role.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled for release in theaters on December 20, 2023.
