Aquaman 3: James Wan Teases “Bigger” Plans After Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is set to arrive in December, rounding out the last batch of DC Comics movies to have been filmed before James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEO’s of the newly minted DC Studios. While there was no word on Aquaman having a role in the initial slate revealed by Gunn and Safran earlier this year, Safran addressed the rumors of Aquaman star Jason Momoa hopping to a different DC Comics role as Lobo by saying, “Jason always saw Aquaman as a trilogy.” Now, as the trailer for James Wan’s Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom kicks off the marketing push for his underwater sequel, Wan seems to have big ideas for the film which would round out that trilogy.

“What I can speak to that is the Jason Momoa story, definitely, as Aquaman definitely has more places to go, and yes,” Wan said. “When we get to the end of this… The answer is yes. I don’t know how to answer that without giving things away, because where we go at the end of this movie, it does tee up something bigger… 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.”

If Wan had his way, the Aquaman films would stand completely on their own and expand an independent universe. 

“My dream would be to create a Seven Kingdom cinematic universe on its own, where we could visit all the different worlds that we sort of touch on these two films,” the director said. “[Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is] about the growth of Jason’s character of Arthur. In the first movie, he was a wanderer trying to still find out who he is, but in this one, he ultimately becomes the king of Atlantis.”

Still, Wan does operate his Aquaman saga within the DC Comics movie franchise. It’s a story which started as Zack Snyder’s vision with Man of Steel, leading to Momoa’s casting as Aquaman for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Now, new leadership has brand new plans for the DC Universe starting with Superman: Legacy, a batch of plans which has called for recasting the likes of Superman and Batman (and possibly Wonder Woman, as well).

“Definitely I’m aware of everything that’s happening around me,” Wan said regarding DC Studios. “I use the analogy that I’m living in a house that’s getting renovated, and so it’s hard to not be aware of the renovation that’s happening around me. But that’s the beauty about Aquaman 2 and Aquaman 1, is we’ve always designed these two films to be within their own world. And so the advantage about not being hooked into this bigger universe is ultimately whatever happens over there, it doesn’t really affect my movie. And so as you can see in this film, it doesn’t hook into anything. It lives in its own world. And that’s very much what we found worked really well for us on the first film. And we’re doing exactly the same there. And so sure, there’s noises going around, but I’m just in my cocoon in my underwater kingdom.”

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters on December 20th, when an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will see the return of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin. Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play Atlan, who was previously portrayed by Graham McTavish in Aquaman. Pilou Asbaek has also joined the cast in a mystery role.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is directed by James Wan, with a script from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Producers include Wan and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.