Depending on who you believe, Aquaman 2 has been a disaster to make, or totally fine. Director James Wan has finally commented on circulating reports about behind-the-scenes issues, and he’s here to tell you that everything is fine, actually.
Still the DCU movie is no stranger to controversy. Even aside from any reports, the Aquaman 2 release date has moved a couple of times, to the point I’m still a little wary we’ll even see it this year. Variety published an insider look at Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, suggesting Wan’s superhero movie suffered from issues ranging from Jason Momoa showing up drunk to Amber Heard having problems with the direction. Wan has now gone on record that the new movie‘s struggles aren’t what’s been purported in the press.
“I don’t get on social media and have fights, but it’s difficult because this narrative has emerged that is not the reality,” Wan tells Empire. “The noise is fun to write about and it gets clicks. But people don’t know the truth.”
Reports like Variety’s do tend to travel, and it’s always unlikely the actual people involved will ever directly acknowledge or contest what’s been said. Really, it’s not like that’d do much good, because they probably won’t convince many fans either way.
You should always take anything from insider sources with some amount of salt. Likewise, understand that making anything of this scale comes with some difficulty that might not read pleasantly when spelled out on paper. You can pick near enough any installment from the DC movies in order and find some dirt, like how Tommy Lee Jones hated Jim Carrey when they both played DC villains in Batman Forever.
Wan gave Entertainment Weekly some insight on the stresses of getting Aquaman 2 over the finish line. “We had to break up our shooting schedule into sections,” he said. “We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like, ‘Oh, they’re doing a whole bunch of different shoots!’ No. If we actually combined them all together, it’s actually not that many number of days at all.”
To be honest, all of this just makes me more curious to see the film. I’m an ardent fan of the first Aquaman (anything with a crab army and dinosaurs has my whole heart) and, as Marie Kondo once put it, I love mess, so I’ll take whatever Aquaman 2 ends up being.
Of course, the future of the franchise shifts after this since James Gunn has taken over. Have a look at our guides to the Superman: Legacy release date and the Brave and the Bold release date to see what he has planned. Momoa might even by playing Lobo — watch this space.