Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom gives Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry a fresh suit of armor, but the redesign proves Zack Snyder's DCEU influence lives on. After Zack Snyder's troubles with Warner Bros. and subsequent exit from Justice League, Joss Whedon made wholesale changes to the DCEU superhero team-up. Fans were less than impressed and campaigned hard for the so-called Snyder cut, which eventually became a reality in 2021. Not only did Zack Snyder's Justice League receive far more praise than the 2017 theatrical version, but the final scene also set up a continuation, leaving fans hoping a full-on Snyderverse might be on the horizon.
For now, however, the DCEU continues as planned, and currently slated for December 2022 is Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom. Production is underway, and James Wan (director) recently unveiled a brand new costume for Jason Momoa's solo sequel. Dubbed the "stealth suit," Arthur Curry's blue getup is influenced by his 1980s comic book "camouflage suit" (designed by Neal Pozner) and its 2020 modern revamp. Whatever the inspiration, Momoa's latest armor represents a massive departure from what he wore in both Justice League and Aquaman.
Dark and moody, the Aquaman 2 costume has more than a whiff of Zack Snyder about it. The director is renowned for dulling down DC's live-action superhero costumes, preferring shadowy colors and a worn-in aesthetic to underpin the grounded, stylistic tone of his DCEU universe. With this in mind, Aquaman's stealth costume is Momoa's most typically Snyder-ish yet. Replacing the golds, oranges and greens of Atlan's armor with sleek metallic blues complimented by silver plating, the stealth suit fits Snyder's style perfectly. It's cooler, harder, and nearer something a superhero might wear in reality. To prove the point, Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom's costume doesn't only bear more Snyder-isms than Atlan's colorful armor from 2018's solo movie, but arguably also the dulled gear Momoa wore in Justice League.
The similarity is even more interesting considering the connection already present between Aquaman 2 and the Snyderverse. Storyboards from Snyder's original DCEU plan had Aquaman and Mera battling the "last kingdom of Atlantis," otherwise known as The Unseen. Their mission would've been to unite the disparate underwater kingdoms - hence "unite the seven." Aquaman 2's "lost kingdom" title suggests James Wan might be revisiting these dropped ideas for Arthur Curry's sequel. Intriguingly, this means Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom is moving closer to the Snyderverse both in terms of plot and visual aesthetic.
Since Warner Bros. isn't pushing ahead with Zack Snyder's vision, James Wan may not be intentionally injecting Snyder's style into Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom. Wan likely has his own reasons for redesigning and darkening his hero's armor - offering a more introspective look into Arthur's persona, perhaps. But in a world that's still hoping the Snyderverse can happen in one form or another (remember how unlikely the Snyder cut seemed at one stage?), it's interesting that Aquaman gets a fashion redesign that'd slot neatly into any future projects within Snyder's DCEU canon. Zack Snyder's Justice League hints that Arthur Curry died in battle against Darkseid's minions and the corrupted Superman. If that moment ever transpires on-screen, the blue stealth suit from Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom would fit the occasion nicely.
