Aquaman 2 director says “nobody will remember” the backlash

Aquaman 2’s James Wan insists that the upcoming DC sequel will outlive the backlash that has dogged its development cycle.

The second solo Aquaman movie, officially titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, has been caught up in several controversies throughout its production. Notably, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films (now DC Studios) faced calls to fire female lead Amber Heard over domestic violence allegations leveled against her by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

In a subsequent defamation trial, Heard claimed that Warner Bros. and DC Films drastically reduced the size of her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as a direct response to this online outrage. Former DC Films boss Walter Hamada testified that this was not the case, however, and Wan himself has since maintained that he always planned to have Heard’s character, Mera, factor less prominently in the sequel.

Another source of negative Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom headlines is the movie’s reshoots. Reports contend that Aquaman 2 has undergone extensive reshoots, in part to accommodate DC Studios co-CEOs and co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new vision for the big screen DC Universe.

Aquaman 2 director says “nobody will remember” the backlash

The combined effect of these scandals is that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s reputation has taken a bashing in the press and on social media. Yet when Wan addressed the backlash against Aquaman 2 in a recent interview with Empire (via Flickering Myth), he downplayed its overall importance in the grand scheme of things.

“I’ve been on this movie for four years now, and I’m so happy for it to come out,” he said. “In many ways, I think it’s even more fun than the first one. But it’s been a long, exhausting process. It is definitely the noisiest movie I’ve ever worked on. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from this experience. To filter out the negativity and focus on the film. Because that’s what will live on – in 20 years, no one will remember the noise. Only the movie.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Wan added that this Zen attitude, coupled with his reserved nature, helped him resist the urge to engage in online spats with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s detractors. He also responded to the buzz around the sequel’s reshoots, describing them as much briefer and less involved than the rumor mill would have it.

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

James Wan is “open” to making Aquaman 3

Wan also indicated that the Aquaman 2 backlash hasn’t soured him on the franchise itself. The director even put himself forward as a candidate to helm Aquaman 3, saying he is “open” to doing another sequel in the event that Warner Bros. and DC Studios greenlight one.

At the same time, Wan acknowledged that the likelihood of an Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom follow-up happening ultimately hinges on whether Gunn and Safran have a place for Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry in their revamped DCU.

For all the latest Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom content, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.