Aquaman 2 is more complicated than the original film, according to director James Wan. Game of Thrones vet Jason Momoa made his first turn as titular Arthur Curry for a small cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before returning for a more prominent role in the highly divisive Justice League. Ultimately, in 2018, he got a solo venture of his own, which proved to be a massive success for the DCEU, becoming the franchise's first feature to net $1 billion at the box office. A sequel was immediately put in development and is scheduled to release on December 16, 2022.
Titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, there isn't much that is currently known about the sequel. Although one thing is for sure, and that is the original cast, comprising of Momoa, Amber Heard (Mera), Patrick Wilson (Orm Marius / Ocean Master), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (David Kane / Black Manta), will be making its return, with Abdul-Mateen II attached in a much bigger role than before. The movie has been filming in London since July, and so far, only a few set photos have been released, showcasing new locales such as the ice cave. With a dearth of plot details, helmer James Wan offered an update about the narrative structure of the forthcoming movie.
Recently, during a virtual Q&A session, where he opened up his mysterious horror movie Malignant - a film that he deliberately directed after Aquaman - James Wan discussed a bit about his next DCEU venture, revealing how it would differ from the original installment. Wan said that Aquaman 2 is decidedly more complex than the 2018 movie. And the reason for that is he understands that audience today is intelligent, so instead of giving them something predictable, easy to decipher, he directs them onto a twisting path that is intriguing and fun for him to create. Adding intricacies is a tried-and-tested strategy that Wan has leaned on for his horror films, as well as for Fast & Furious 7, and now he is returning to the same gimmick for Aquaman 2.
"That’s a good question. It really is, for me, all about telling the story that I’m telling in that particular film; the story and the characters. In the case of Malignant, it is a very windy story. Obviously a lot of it is just me holding the cards in my hands and trying not to show it, and just trying to find degrees of how much we show and how much we don’t show. And it’s difficult, because today’s audiences are very savvy, they’re very clever; they look at trailers, they look at posters, and they can kind of put things together. So the key is, “How do I stay ahead of audiences today that are so savvy, but at the same time, still come up with things that people quite haven’t seen before?” To me, one of the things I like to do is start with a story structure that is somewhat familiar, so it gives me a strong foundation to begin with. People can come and watch a [film like] Malignant and go, “OK, I can kind of follow this because A) it’s like a murdery mystery and it’s also like a detective-thriller, and we’ve seen many of those; we kind of understand the structure of it. But within that, that’s where I f*** things up. I pull that away and I start to take you on this labyrinthine journey. It’s that aspect that makes it fun for me. And it’s not just in my horror films; I try to do that even in Fast & Furious 7 and, to some degree, in Aquaman 1, but definitely more so in Aquaman 2. There are more complexities in Aquaman 2 than [in] the first movie. And so, this is just stuff that I learned along the way and it’s what I find intriguing as a filmmaker, and I try to take everything that I’ve learned from each film and sort of carry them with me to my next movie."
Wans' new comments about Aquaman 2 second the statements from the film's co-stars, who have previously alluded that the movie is more winding than the original Aquaman. Earlier, Wilson teased the sequel to be bigger and better, with Abdul-Mateen II also adding that the script is superior to the first film's. This ties in with the idea of the movie being darker and deeper and more expansive in terms of worldbuilding. After all, this time around, it's not just the original screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick providing the input, but it's also Momoa who has participated in the scriptwriting. So, by all means, Aquaman 2 is bound to be different from its predecessor.
A point that is worthy to note here is that different and complex do not always mean better. The one reason Aquaman performed so well at the box office was its sense of good old-fashioned fun and joyful, energetic action, which were a radical diversion from the dark, gritty tone of previous DCEU lackluster films. Of course, Wan is approaching Aquaman 2 differently to avoid repeatability and redundancy. Still, care must be taken so that the sequel doesn't lose the enjoyability of the franchise's genre. When it comes to filmmaking, Wan is a genius who knows what he is doing and what the audiences expect from him. So, for now, audiences can safely count on Aquaman 2 to be a thrilling, pleasurable ride that honors everything Wan built with Aquaman.
Source: James Wan
