Having directed the first part released in 2018, James Wan already had enough experience with shooting underwater to make Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom a challenge. What the director did not imagine was that the true complications of the film would have nothing to do with the technical aspects.

After five years and several delays, the Aquaman sequel will finally hit theaters in December, but in a very different context than the one in which the first part debuted. Last year, after the union of Warner Bros. with Discovery, the CEO of the company announced a series of changes that would affect a large part of the franchises, especially the DC universe.

After creating DC Studios and naming James Gunn and Peter Safran as the heads of the division that oversees all comic book brand-related projects, the co-CEOs began planning their new universe focusing on the first phase, titled Gods & Monsters, in which for now there is no place for the King of the Seven Seas.

Jason Momoa's future as Arthur Curry is a mystery, and fans will have to wait for the film's premiere and his performance to get a decision on if he will continue to be part of the new canon or there will be a new actor behind the character, in case the character makes his debut in the new DCU. But Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom still has to adapt to what’s going to happen in the future, and it wasn't easy for James Wan to work through so many changes.

How Will Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Address the Future of the DCU

Jason Momoa as Aquaman
Warner Bros. Pictures

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Wan revealed that the story had to be reworked multiple times because of what was happening at Warner Bros. Discovery and that was one of the biggest challenges he faced while working on the project:

“I’ve had to make adjustments all along the way. The DCU has been through lots of different versions, and one of the things that was challenging about this film was keeping track of what’s going on. Fortunately, the Aquaman universe is pretty far removed from the rest of the world. We’re going to many different underwater kingdoms that are not necessarily related to what’s happening with the other movies and characters, so we’re stand-alone in that respect. So I can just tell my story on its own without being affected too much, but at the same time, I have to be mindful of what’s been happening.”

Aquaman 2 is not the only movie that fell between the old conception of the DC universe and the future one. The Flash and Blue Beetle, hitting theaters soon, had the same challenge ahead of them. However, the film starring Ezra Miller will be the one that works as a kind of soft reboot to make way for the new universe.

For its part, Blue Beetle is the introduction of the character played by Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai), so it will be much easier for Jaime Reyes to adapt to the new canon than to the characters that already existed and were part of the Snyderverse.