“It doesn’t smell very good…” Is Aquaman 3 still possible?
Jason Momoa has no illusions and James Wan seems to have already turned the page.
Aquaman had generated more than $1.1 billion in global box office revenue in 2018. A huge hit which, on paper, should generate a franchise in the long term. Yes but here it is, even before the release ofAquaman 2this Wednesday, December 20 at the cinema, the star Jason Momoa suggests the saga is likely over.
First, because the forecasts are bad. Success should not be repeated and the fear is rather to see The Lost Kingdom drown completely. Then, the reboot of the DC Universe by James Gunn and Peter Safran changes the situation. The entire superhero gallery is going to be recast. We will have a new Superman in 2025, then a new Batman etc. We don’t yet know what will happen to Arthur Curry, but Jason Momoa says he is pessimistic these days, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight:
“I don’t necessarily want this to be the end… But I don’t think I’d really have a choice! James Gunn and Peter Safran want to start their own new project. The truth is, if the audience likes Aquaman 2, then there is always a possibility. But right now, I’m telling myself that it doesn’t smell very good…”
In short, if The Lost Kingdom still crosses the billion mark worldwide, we can’t imagine Warner Bros. spit in the soup. Knowing that The Batman will exist outside of the new DC Universe, this could also be true for Aquaman ! Except that the scores probably won’t be as flamboyant. SO Jason Momoa can only cross his fingers and confides:
“I love this character and I would like to play him for a long time. I even have an idea of where I would like it to go. A plan for the next 10 years, to do a lot of cool things. So maybe, if people join…”
Even the producer and director, James Wan, hardly seems to believe it. In September, in Entertainment Weeklyhe confided having slipped elements into Aquaman 2 “on which we could certainly rely to make a Aquaman 3“. But he tempers immediately: he has neither project nor story for a sequel at the moment. “I don’t know if I’d be ready to direct an Aquaman 3. That second movie took up so much of my life, so much time… All I want to think about now is take a break!”
Above all, James Wan recently said he wanted to return to horror cinema. As if he already knew that the door was going to close on The Lost Kingdom.