Why We're Not Worried About Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom
For as much as the controversial DC Extended Universe or Snyderverse is known for its desaturated visuals and hard-edged tone, there are several entries in the franchise that have managed to buck this trend. For example, David F. Sandberg's "Shazam!" is a decidedly comedic superhero affair with dashes of horror and drama, whereas Cathy Yan's "Birds of Prey" is a Day-Glo-colored riot grrrl rumpus.
Then there's James Wan's "Aquaman," a film full of pleasingly bright colors and enough genre shifts to make your head spin. One minute, it's a dramatic fantasy parable about environmentalism; the next, it's an aquatic horror B-movie. Then, before you know it, the film suddenly turns into a fish-out-of-water rom-com (no pun intended) in the vein of Disney's "The Little Mermaid," only to abruptly transform again, this time into the DC equivalent of a pulpy Jules Verne sci-fi adventure.
Does it always work? Not really, but the sheer go-for-brokeness of "Aquaman" makes it easily one of the most (if not the most) enjoyable and rewatchable entries in the DCEU. With a worldwide take of over $1.14 billion, Wan's superhero flick will also likely go down as the highest-grossing installment in the franchise prior to its relaunch as the DC Universe led by newly-hired DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. So why, then, is the buzz around Wan's upcoming sequel, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," so muted going into its scheduled release at the end of 2023?
The reason has little to do with the sequel itself and more to do with the circumstances surrounding it, coupled with rumors of poor early test screenings. Still, if Wan's track record and history of handling behind-the-scenes turmoil are anything to go by, it's hard to imagine "Lost Kingdom" being a total wash (even in the worst-case scenario).
Expectations, Amber Heard, and the impending DC reboot
So far as those reports of negative test screenings for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" are concerned, it's best not to read too much into them either way. Just as movies that tested well pre-release can prove to be flops, films that tested badly can go on to become classics. Case in point? In the weeks leading up to its arrival in theaters, Martin Scorsese's revered gangster drama "Goodfellas" was testing so terribly it "terrified Warner Bros. executives," as Scorsese told Entertainment Weekly in 2019.
Then there's the hullabaloo concerning Amber Heard. On the heels of the "Aquaman" actor and her ex-husband Johnny Depp's widely-publicized defamation trial in 2022, social media has been flooded with accounts blaming Heard for "Lost Kingdom" supposedly testing negatively. In reality, however, there's virtually nothing in the way of concrete information about Heard's actual screen time in the sequel. That is to say, these reactions read as uninformed, bad-faith attacks based on users' perceptions of Heard's personal life. Moreover, given the more reliable reports of reshoots, there's a lot about the film that's up in the air for now, making any discussion about its quality speculative at best.
Lastly, there's the fact that "Lost Kingdom" will be the final DCEU film to hit theaters ahead of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU launchpad, "Superman: Legacy," premiering in 2025. Will general audiences know or genuinely care about the sequel's lack of connections to future DC films? After all, ties to future movies haven't prevented "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" from becoming a (relatively) financially disappointing start to Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — nor did star Dwayne Johnson's notorious promise that "Black Adam" would change the hierarchy of DC turn that superhero tentpole into a success.
Where there's a Wan, there's a way
The truth is, nobody really knows if "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is great, terrible, or mediocre at this stage. All we have to go on is James Wan's previous work as a director, which is pretty dang encouraging. His horror movies "Saw," "Insidious," and "The Conjuring" were all touchstones for the genre when they came out, and even something like "Dead Silence" — which is widely considered to be Wan's worst film to date — is bursting with gonzo ideas and inventive filmmaking flourishes. That same could be said for "Aquaman," which, again, is one of the most visually-accomplished and technically audacious mainstream superhero adventures to hit the big screen in recent years.
Besides "Aquaman," Wan's sole other venture into the world of big-budget moviemaking before "Lost Kingdom" was "Furious 7," a massive commercial hit that earned some of the best reviews out of the entire "Fast & Furious" franchise. It's also a film that, like "Lost Kingdom," required Wan to navigate some treacherous waters off-screen (in that case, Paul Walker's tragic death mid-production). Yet, despite all the hurdles he had to overcome, both practical and emotional, the filmmaker succeeded in crafting a shockingly heartfelt and moving "Fast & Furious" sequel that still delivered the goods when it comes to entertainingly ridiculous, physics-shattering action scenes.
Nobody bats a thousand all the time, and there's certainly a real chance "Lost Kingdom" will send the DCEU out on a weaker note. Still, if Wan's output in the past is any indication, he'll either find a way to stick the landing or go down swinging in a marvelous blaze of glory. Either way, it ought to be something worth checking out.
"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" opens in theaters on December 25, 2023.