In 2018, Warner Bros.’ Aquaman movie turned the DC Comics character into a bonafide phenomenon, with the solo film grossing over $1 billion at the global box office. The franchise is expected to be followed by Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, a 2023 sequel reuniting Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry / Aquaman with an array of DC Comics elements. While there’s still a lot that’s unknown about Lost Kingdom, new comments from Momoa are continuing the hype. In a recent interview with GQ, Momoa teased that the sequel is “a lot funnier” than the first film. and also vaguely hinted at how it simultaneously leans further into the allegory of climate change.
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“I have a great time with… there’s a lot of…. It’s a throwback to…” Momoa said in the interview, before shifting gears. “I don’t want to give too much away. But we really get to speed up what is going to happen to this earth, and it’s not because of aliens.”
In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, 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. The film 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. Game of Thrones alum Pilou Asbaek has also joined the cast in an unknown role, while 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.
“It’s been great. It’s been fun going back into the world of Atlantis, and I hang out with the group and the gang and, and you know, and ultimately continuing with the story, the world that we created in the first one.” director James Wan explained during the film’s CinemaCon presentation earlier this year. “And trying to take it to the next level. I mean, it was a big, beautiful first film, so obviously the challenge is how do you take that.”
“With this film, you know, we were able to now embrace new technology that we have, where we literally captured — and it’s not motion control, it’s not face capturing, it’s literally putting like 100 cameras on the actor and capture the performances — and then taking what they do and then applying that to a 3D versions of themselves, but their performance drive this 3D character,” Wan added. “So for all the actors but also more versatile for you as a director. It is it’s less painful for the actors, which makes it easier for me as well because they’re not screaming and yelling at me [about] the atomic wedgie.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom now arrives in theaters on March 17, 2023.
