Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: Release date, cast, plot for DC sequel

If you thought that DC Studios was going to ignore the monster success of its billion-dollar 2018 smash Aquaman you were wrong.

Despite delays, and a couple of fun horror excursions, James Wan is back helming the king of Atlantis in a brand new film.

Aquaman was one of DC’s more successful film with audiences and critics, mixing big action with a fun, adventure tone and the occasional jump scare to remind us Wan is also a great horror filmmaker.

Read more: Every upcoming DC movie

So far, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom appears to be the final DCEU film before the new slate of the DCU comes into play.

When is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in cinemas?

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to be released in UK cinemas on 21 December, hoping to get into people’s hearts over the Christmas holidays.

Originally slated for released at Christmas 2022, the film has been delayed a number of times: first to March 2023, then to December 2023.

There’s still a lot of time between now and December and no word has been released on the film's runtime.

Is there a trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?

Yes, there have been a few Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom released, with the most recent coming in November. Watch it below.

"I'm gonna kill Aquaman and destroy everything he holds dear..." fumes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta in the first full trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and it sounds like he means business.

DC fans finally got to dip their toes into Wan's Aquaman sequel in mid-September when the studio dropped its debut trailer.

In it, we find Mamoa's Arthur Curry settling into his new life — one that has finally been given purpose since he embraced his destiny as the new king of Atlantis. However, as with most comic book utopias, peace times don't last too long and before long, a new evil emerges — one that'll force Curry to reunite with old enemies in order to beat.

Watch the first trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom below:

Before it arrived, a teaser trailer for the trailer was revealed on Monday, 11 September which showed brief glimpses of the war that will break out over the course of the superhero movie.

Watch the teaser trailer below:

During Las Vegas' CinemaCon in late April 2023, attendees were treated to the debut airing of the film's first footage. In the debut trailer, reports suggest we see Momoa's Arthur Curry juggling dual lives as a father on land and royalty under the sea.

While Heard's Mera is apparently only seen in fleeting glimpses, some sites have theorised that her character may perish early on, forcing Curry to join forces with his half-brother Orm (Wilson), to face a new foe who has gained control of the Black Trident, Black Manta (Abdul-Mateen II).

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom cast

Aquaman’s sequel would feel empty without Aquaman so luckily Jason Momoa is back as half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry, the king of Atlantis.

Also returning from the first film is Amber Heard as Xebel kingdom Princess — and love interest — Mera.

Also returning is Willem Dafoe as royal vizier Nuidis Vulko, Patrick Wilson as Curry’s half-brother and enemy Orm Marius.

Dolph Lundgren returns as Xebel king Nereus, Mera’s father, while Abdul-Mateen II returns as pirate enemy David Kane who adopts an armoured suit making him the Black Manta.

Temuera Morrison and Nicole Kidman reprise their roles as Arthur’s parents Thomas and Atlanna respectively, while Randall Park is back as Atlantis obsessive science Dr Stephen Shin.

Pilou Asbæk has been cast in an undisclosed role, while Vincent Regan will play Atlan, the first king of Atlantis and Ben Affleck will reportedly cameo as Bruce Wayne / Batman.

Indya Moore will portray Karshon, and Jani Zhao will play Stingray.

What is the plot of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?

The plot is being kept under wraps at the moment, but will see Arthur don a new sleek black suit for his adventure.

Given Momoa has had a hand in the story writing process of the film, there is every chance that the film will be able to keep the fun and exciting tone of the first while moving it into more confidently darker territory like the Trench sequence in the first film.

Former DC Studios exec Walter Hamada described the film as "a buddy comedy" between Momoa's Aquaman and Patrick Wilson's King Orm.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's journey to screen

As referenced in The Hollywood Reporter, Wan’s Aquaman sequel will be the only DC movie to have endured three different power changes at Warner Bros. The article also confirmed that a new batch of reshoots had taken place in New Zealand during mid-June that involved Momoa and Wilson. This marks the film’s third return in front of the camera to capture more scenes.

According to the same sources, multiple uninspiring test screenings were to blame for these new reshoots, with clarity surrounding the film's core storyline emerging as particular sticking points.

The presence of Batman was also a key area of focus. Originally, Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight was reportedly due to play a role “akin to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the Marvel movies,” popping up in the since-shelved Batgirl alongside an appearance in Aquaman 2.

Release date shifts messed this up slightly, as The Lost Kingdom was originally due to arrive before The Flash, which also included the big return of Keaton’s Bruce Wayne. To fix this issue, previous Warners bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy invited Ben Affleck’s Batman to replace Keaton but now that The Lost Kingdom will definitely be released after The Flash, it is believed that that scene has since been ditched too.

The Hollywood Reporter claims this decision was made by new DCEU bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran who “do not want to promise a movie universe that will not come to fruition, nor tie it down excessively to past failures.”

According to an anonymous source, it’s all “pretty chaotic.”

Despite all this, Warner Bros.' dedication to dishing out even more reshoots could suggest they have a lot of faith in the movie, with Wan apparently completing his five days of freshly allotted reshoots in just four.

Speaking of Wan, he also teased a bit more about the film’s plot by saying: “This movie has something to talk about [climate change], but it’s still a fun action-fantasy movie.”

Despite this semi-positivity surrounding the film, a new article that washed ashore from Variety in early October detailed a litany of production chaos including drunk stars, “hostile” vibes and even a shouty letter from Elon Musk.

According to the outlet, Momoa allegedly showed up to the set intoxicated while dressed as Depp, presumably to provoke Heard and add pressure to remove her from the project. Since these allegations have surfaced, DC spokespeople have denied them and claimed otherwise - but the trouble with Wan’s movie doesn’t seem to have stopped there.

In addition to Heard’s claims that Wan was unsupportive of her during production, Variety also claimed that the star was in fact very nearly dropped from the sequel by Warner Bros. - but due to a lack of chemistry with its leading man and not for any other external circumstances.

The article suggested that this didn’t go ahead due to a “scorched Earth” letter by Heard’s ex-partner Musk.

As per Variety: “Ultimately, the studio never pulled the trigger on firing Heard because her former boyfriend, Elon Musk, had one of his litigators send a “scorched-earth letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down” if the actress wasn’t brought back for a sequel, says a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes battle.”

The article went on to suggest that Momoa might survive the transition from the old DC movie-verse to James Gunn’s currently-in-the-works DC Extended Universe - just not as Aquaman.

According to Variety’s sources, Gunn is eyeing him to play alien bounty hunter Lobo instead.

Responding to these claims, Wan told Empire that many of the stories related to the follow-up's reshoots had largely been blown out of proportion, explaining that the headlines didn't quite match the vibe that he cultivated on set.

“We probably did seven or eight days [of reshoots], which is nothing for a movie of this size,” he told the outlet. “It was just spread out because it’s so hard to get your actors back once you’ve finished the initial shoot.”

He also expressed his frustration at having one of his projects pulled into an online drama that he has little control over. “I’m a pretty private person,” he reasoned. “I don’t get on social media and have fights, but it’s difficult because this narrative has emerged that is not the reality. The noise is fun to write about, and it gets clicks, but people don’t know the truth.”

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released on 21 December.

Watch a trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom