The DCEU universe looks to have some shake-ups, especially with James Gunn and Peter Safran in the final stages of their multi-year plan for the DC Extended Universe. Several potential paths forward for the DCEU have been coming out. One such path reportedly not being taken is the release of Wonder Woman 3 not moving forward, and another path, reportedly, is the character of Aquaman going by the wayside after the release of Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom.
As revealed by a source to The Hollywood Reporter, Patty Jenkins submitted her treatment of Wonder Woman 3, and it's said that Gunn and Safran, along with Warner Bros. Pictures co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, told Jenkins that the film did not fit into the multi-year work in progress plan for the DCEU. Gunn and Safran are expected to meet with David Zaslav, the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, to unveil their plan, which is not finalized and still in the works. A potential path forward would involve ending the Snyderverse, the series of DCEU movies directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Godot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, and Ray Fisher. This potential path would see the shutting down of Man of Steel 2, with a returning Cavill, and having no more Aquaman, the titular character fronted by Momoa. Momoa, along with Cavill, are to cameo in Flash, which is to be released on June 16, and it is reportedly assumed that the characters may not have cameos in Flash after all.
Even if Momoa did not return as Aquaman, he could be important in any new plans for the DCEU. One such scenario involves him leading another movie or franchise within the DCEU--the main one being Lobo, an intergalactic rough-around-the-edges bounty hunter. Lobo, a character considered an anti-hero in the DCEU, fits the prototype of characters Gunn likes to play around with: the quirky and weird outsiders, as proven with Gunn's Suicide Squad and in his tenure with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Whatever the plan is moving forward, it is still certain that Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom will be released.
Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom is set to come out on December 25, 2023. The sequel to the highly successful Aquaman (a movie that grossed $943.2 million) stars Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, and Nicole Kidman. It is directed by James Wan from a script written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.
No plans have been finalized for the DCEU yet, and no official paths forward have been released, so whether it involves tabling the Snyderverse character movies or rebooting the entire DCEU, you can trust Collider to keep you up to date on any news that develops.
Relive our interview with Momoa from the first Aquaman below: