There have apparently been significant story changes made to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom at DC after the disappointing results of recent test screenings.
This Christmas, Aquaman 2 is slated to mark the end of this phase of the DC Universe (DCU), as Arthur Curry, played by Jason Momoa, faces a personal threat on Earth rather than “some foreign power.”
Unfortunately, recent news on the aquatic epic has not been favorable. The Aquaman sequel has received mixed reviews at test screenings as it moves through post-production, with some viewers labeling it “possibly one of the worst DCEU movies.”
According to reports, Momoa has decided to leave the role and take on a new one inside the DC Universe as a result of this “awful” reception.
The Aquaman 2 Updates Keep Happening
Insider KC Walsh claims that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is currently undergoing significant revisions in post-production.
The primary problem was that they entirely rewrote the plot and villains of the picture; it’s not even the same movie they tested four times earlier. Despite this, nobody left any test screenings of the film.
The “same villains,” he pointed out, are at the center of Aquaman 2, but Warner Bros. and DC keep inserting “new stories around them.”
Walsh just said, “No clue,” when asked why these changes were made at this point in the game.
He bemoaned the fact that the prior narrative involved Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta being “possessed by an old king via a trident,” but he made no mention of the contents of the revised narrative:
Manta was controlled by an ancient king with a trident, and they required royal blood to revive his former realm.
Robert Meyer Burnett, another insider, confirmed Walsh’s claims while appearing on The John Campea Show, stating that he had heard “[WB is] revising a crucial storyline aspect.”
He said that there might be “a tonal issue,” but he didn’t say what it might be:
“Reshoots are being done, I’ve heard. They’re altering a crucial plot aspect… Well, this movie definitely has the potential to be silly, just like the first one, I’m sure. Many people don’t like that… There are many individuals for whom that is not their thing. Hence, there could be a tone problem. They could find it too fantastical for them. I simply don’t believe it until we see the entire movie. The issue is that individuals prefer to report on negative events than positive ones.
As a result, two Batmen appearances starring Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton are apparently no longer in the film.
How is Aquaman 2 progressing?
Despite all of this, it seems like the current DC movie era won’t end on a positive note because all indications are that Aquaman 2 is in a mess.
Fans are now wondering where the DC sequel went wrong in light of all this.
Aquaman 2 seemed poised to build on the popularity of Aquaman, which is regarded as one of the more popular DCU entries.
But it appears like this is an example of a movie that has been taken apart and put back together too frequently.
The DCEU chapter was not planned to end with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s first approval. Being in a perpetual state of flux as things change at both DC and Warner Bros., Aquaman 2 has been the victim of ongoing shifts in strategy for the DC Universe as a whole.
The way Batman cameos are shuffled is the best example of this. From having a cameo by Michael Keaton to having appearances by both Keaton and Ben Affleck, the movie currently appears to have neither.
It is difficult for a movie to succeed when it is being Frankensteined repeatedly into things it was never meant to be, whether it was good before these alterations or not is unknown and probably never will be.
On December 25, Aquaman 2 and the Lost Kingdom will be released in theaters.