After The Flash, you might expect Aquaman 2 to follow the increasingly-established superhero movie tradition of paying homage to past, present, and fan-backed portrayals of their favorite good guys. But in an interview with Comicbook.com, director James Wan made it clear that the new movie is far from cameo-littered, DCU love-in.
Although Ben Affleck has shot scenes as Batman for the Aquaman sequel, Wan explained that the DC movie remained very much focussed on its titular star.
“Aquaman – even the first film – has always been a very standalone film,” Wan explained. “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.”
He continued, “You know, people love Jason Momoa; people love him playing this role; and people love the action visuals of this space and this world. And that’s what we’re doing: we’re taking it to the next level and we are still expanding – and just any fans of Aquaman the character, that love Black Manta, this is the next level and I’m very excited to finally put out there to show them what we’ve been working on all these years.”
As excited as we are to see Batfleck again, it’s refreshing to hear that Wan is keeping Jason Momoa at the forefront of this upcoming DC movie.
It’s fair to say that, in the past eighteen months especially, even some of the best movies in the superhero genre have been a little too reliant on cameos. Several Marvel movies like No Way Home, Doctor Strange 2, and Across the Spider-Verse incorporated universe-crossing heroes while The Flash took it to another level by including post-humous cameos from multiple Superman actors.
The Aquaman 2 release date might not be until December, but judging by these comments, we’re more than ready for the change of pace. Before that, though, we have the Blue Beetle release date in August — so start planning your cinema trips.