Hopefully, Jason Momoa (who’s very popular on the Girl Scout cookie front these days) is done sleeping off his energetic, pink-scrunchied Oscars appearance because there’s good news for him on the superhero front. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the inevitable Aquaman sequel has finally been confirmed and will be washing ashore on December 16, 2022. Momoa will obviously reprise his role as Arthur Curry, and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick will return as well.
None of this is surprising news, other than wondering why it took so long to greenlight a sequel. Perhaps this was simply a matter of scheduling, but Warner Bros. has now snatched up a date that currently holds no competition. That will likely remain the case, since no one wants to be demolished by Momoa’s appeal. And his long-time fans can now breathe a sigh of relief that his 15 or so years in Hollywood have finally paid off with a truly blockbuster leading turn. Not only did he and James Wan put many millions of butts in multiplexes — the film earned $332 million domestically and $1.1 billion globally — but there’s enough leftover charisma to likely fuel several Aquaman followups.
James Wan is definitely on board to produce, but will he direct again? He’s holding off on a decision until a script materializes, although he and producer Peter Safran are developing a spinoff about The Trench for Warner Bros. Variety notes that this horror-fueled film will follow those deadly amphibious creatures who attacked Aquaman and Queen Mera in the first film and will be set in the Marianas Trench. Meanwhile, Momoa recently boarded the ridiculously impressive cast of the Dune reboot, so he’ll be busy for awhile. That’s good news for everyone, except for those who want Momoa to appear in future Fast and Furious movies. Sorry, The Rock!
(Via Hollywood Reporter & Variety)