Jason Momoa is currently tied with Gal Gadot for the position of the most popular DCEU actor, with Momoa's turn as Aquaman in James Wan's 2018 film becoming one of the most successful solo superhero movies in the franchise to date. In an interview with Drew Barrymore, Momoa revealed that he was closely involved in the development of the upcoming Aquaman sequel, to the extent that he co-wrote and pitched the original script that eventually turned into Aquaman 2.

"After we ended the first one, I went in with my writing partner and we dreamed up the second one. We went in, we pitched the idea...the best thing I can give you is that I love it so much that I participated in the writing of it. And so we did the first treatment, and then James and our original writer David [Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick] finished it off, and all of our hearts are in it."

The first Aquaman ended with half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry finally embracing his destiny as the King of Atlantis and savior of mankind. Now that the origin story is out of the way, the sequel can explore Aquaman's rich backstory from the comics. Last year, Wan, who is returning to direct Aquaman 2, had explained that the sequel is going to be, "a little bit more serious. A little bit more relevant to the world we're living in today."

Of course, Wan is best known for his work in the horror movie genre, and you see traces of that sensibility in the scene in Aquaman in which Arthur and Mera are attacked by mutated sea creatures and pulled into the inky depths of the ocean. According to Wan, Aquaman 2 will kick the horror quotient up a few notches higher.

"Just like the first movie had a touch of my horror sensibility in it - in regards to the Trench sequence - I would say there will be a little bit of that in this next one. I think it's something that's a big part of who I am and it just naturally comes out in these kind of films. And especially Aquaman, where the story takes place in these underwater worlds, that can very scary. Naturally, my love for the horror genre just means that I latch myself to these scenes and try to give them a little bit more of my scary sauce on them."

Apart from the return of James Wan and Jason Momoa, fans are also looking forward to the return of other major characters from the original Aquaman, including Mera, Ocean Master, and Black Manta, and the expansion of the extensive lore of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis that the first movie only hinted at.

Directed by James Wan, Aquaman 2 features a lead cast consisting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta. The film is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 16, 2022. James Wan's comments come from Syfy.com.