James Wan Says Arthur's Story with Arthur Jr. in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is Pulled Directly from the Comics

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will pick up a bit further down the road from where the original film concluded, and one of the biggest changes to Arthur's world is his growing family. In the time between films, Arthur and Mera had a baby, which has been part of the comics in different ways at different times. ComicBook.com recently spoke to Director James Wan all about the film and what's in store for Arthur and Mera, and during that conversation, Wan revealed that much of that aspect of the story is pulled directly from the comics, though there are some other stories to consider than just the original one featuring Arthur Jr, as more recently the couple also had a baby girl named Andy.

"Baby boy. Yes. It's their son, Arthur Jr. Yes, and that's basically taken straight from the comic book. The reason why we went down this path is because it felt like the natural extension of the first movie," Wan said. "I kept describing Aquaman II as the part B of the first movie, and so, a lot of the character arc and hero's journey that we had set up in the first film gets to grow. They grow and expand in the second one, and obviously, seeing, at the end of the first movie we see Arthur defeating his brother to become the king of Atlantis."

"In this one now you get to see him as the king of Atlantis, having the stress of running a kingdom. It's one of those things where it's fun to see him do the big, heavy stuff but contrast that with the more domesticated things that he has to do at home, like feeding the baby, changing its diapers and that juxtapositioning is what makes it fun for us," Wan said.

In the comics, Arthur Jr. met a tragic fate at the hands of Black Manta, who sought to get revenge on Arthur in the most horrific way possible. The death of Arthur Jr. would take its toll on Arthur and Mera's relationship and those ripples would continue to have an effect on Atlantis as a whole, so you can definitely see how this could also be the case in the Aquaman sequel.

That said there's another aspect to all this to consider. In recent years, Arthur and Mera had a baby girl named Andy, and since then she's grown to become a popular character in her own right. She has continued to flourish as part of the Aquaman family, and we've even seen a future version of her that is part of the Justice League. While Arthur Jr's journey might follow the comics closely, it isn't clear which comics it will follow, and there's a chance some of the elements from Andy and her time in the world make it over to Arthur Jr. We'll have to wait and see, but at least we don't have to wait too much longer.

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters on December 25th, 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.

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