The DC Universe is undergoing a lot of changes. And its ongoing projects have had to bear the brunt of it. The movie that seems to have suffered the most though is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. What once seemed like a promising bet after Aquaman became the first DC movie since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises to gross $1 billion at the worldwide box office is now mired in difficulty, struggling to hold audience interest after the numerous changes to its parent franchise.
Between the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran as DC Studios co-heads, coupled with The Flash resetting the DC Universe but arriving before the Aquaman sequel, combined with the numerous updates to the franchise, James Wan has had to do a lot of adjusting to ensure Aquaman 2 still feels like a movie that maintains the broader DCEU continuity. In an interview with THR spotlighting his career, he comes candid on just how much work it has been and how the movie has benefitted in some ways from being set in its own distant corner of the DC Universe.
I’ve had to make adjustments all along the way. The DCU has been through lots of different versions, and one of the things that was challenging about this film was keeping track of what’s going on. Fortunately, the Aquaman universe is pretty far removed from the rest of the world. We’re going to many different underwater kingdoms that are not necessarily related to what’s happening with the other movies and characters, so we’re stand-alone in that respect. So I can just tell my story on its own without being affected too much, but at the same time, I have to be mindful of what’s been happening.
We’re still waiting for the first trailer to drop. And hopefully when it does, we’ll get a look at how Aquaman 2 is tackling and addressing some of these abrupt shifts.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is currently slated for release on December 20, 2023.
