James Wan’s Aquaman is the only DCEU film to gross more than a billion dollars worldwide. It rules for many reasons — Atlantians riding sharks and seahorses, spooky creatures in the deep, crab people! There’s a fun factor that Shazam! also touched on, but in Aquaman, face-melting special effects ornament almost every shot. The introduction to Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) establishes the ‘80s action camp viewers can expect from the rest of the picture. As a complete homage to action movies of the 1980s, Aquaman includes a hunk, one-liners, and action with punctuation. The movie takes place shortly after Justice League and sees Arthur struggling to accept his responsibilities to both Atlantis, and the terrestrial people of Earth. He acts as a defender of the ocean until destiny calls on his intervention in the Atlantian royal affairs after his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) orchestrates a conflict with the surface.

The story is similar to DC’s new 52 animated feature, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis from 2015, but Aquaman updates it with its own style and panache. DC hasn’t rushed the creative team on a sequel, opting for quality over quantity after a hurried effort to assemble their roster of heroes on screen resulted in middling reviews and reception. Last year, Wan started teasing his vision for the upcoming Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. Here’s your one-stop shop for everything there is to know about Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.

Editor's Note: This piece was last updated on December 18, 2023.

When Is 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' Coming Out?

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is currently scheduled to release on December 22, 2023. The movie was previously set for release two days earlier on December 20, 2023. The film is now opening opposite the biopic The Iron Claw, the animated feature Migration, and the Glen Powell-Sydney Sweeney rom-com Anyone But You. This is hardly the first delay the film has faced as it was previously scheduled to release a year prior on December 16, 2022, but was postponed to March 17, 2023. The film was pushed back to December 25, 2023, only to move up a few more days, and then pushed forward by two days.

When Will 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' Come to Streaming?

We won't know when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be for some time, but we do know that the film will eventually be made available to stream on Warner Bros' streaming service Max, alongside other recent DC films like The Batman and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Watch the Trailer for 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'

We got our first Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer on September 14, 2023. Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry narrates the trailer as we see how much his life has changed since the last film's events. However, the more things change, the more they stay the same as we see him dueling Black Manta, who has returned for revenge. For a full breakdown of the trailer, check out this detailed article.

The second trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was released on November 20, 2023. This trailer gives us a better glimpse at the story as Black Manta begins his quest for revenge.

Who Stars in 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'?

Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, returns as the King of Atlantis. Momoa took to his Instagram account to announce he’d be bleaching/highlighting his hair again a day before his first day of shooting would begin in London. More recently, Khal Curry dropped a first look at a new suit for the new picture. Viewers can swipe between the gaudy, ornate gold and green armor salvaged at the end of Aquaman, and the new, sleeker, darker stealth suit. Wan stated that the suite is, “Atlantian tech based on cephalopods camouflaging ability.” In addition to the more muted color scheme, the suite is less beveled and lacks gauntlets and fins on the boots. During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show in May 2021, Jason Momoa revealed he aided in writing at least some form of the draft that Wan and writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick would go on to polish and finish. Momoa stated he felt “100% encouraged,” by his co-writers and director, and went on to say “all our hearts are in it.”

Amber Heard is returning as Mera, the water-bending Atlantean. Despite high-profile courtroom and tabloid drama, Heard reprised her role during additional photography for the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and is again assuming the role for Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. She posted a photo of her doing suspended push-ups and a video snippet of her twirling a staff in preparation for this super-hero flick. Heard reportedly has a smaller role in the sequel, a fact that has caused backlash from certain corners of the internet (and the actor herself). However, James Wan has stated in an interview with Empire Magazine that moving on from Mera was always part of the plan. Here's what Wan said:

“It’s fair that she said that [about Mera being pared down], because she wasn’t in my head as I was working on this movie. Actors don’t necessarily know what we [directors] behind the scenes are thinking about. But this was always my plan. From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a ‘Romancing the Stone’-type thing - an action-adventure romantic comedy – while the second would be an outright buddy comedy. I wanted ‘Tango & Cash!’”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is returning as Aquaman’s human nemesis, Black Manta. He shared posts pertaining to his training for his return, and his excitement for the sequel is clear. In an interview with THR he’s quoted as saying, “In Aquaman, we just got a small introduction to Black Manta and to some of his motivations. In this one, I get to exercise and breathe a little bit more. I’m showing some different colors with this one,” and, “It gives the actors a lot of good storytelling moments.”

Patrick Wilson’s Orm is returning too. Wilson posted a sweat silhouette snapped back in April. Aquaman isn’t the only one with a new look as James Wan offered a first look at Orm--looking like a buff Cast Away more than an Ocean Master — toned, tan, and surprisingly on land. Other returning cast members include Willem Dafoe as Nuidis, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin. New cast members include Vincent Regan (300) as Atlan, Jani Zhao as Stingray, Indya Moore (Pose) as Karshon, and Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) in an undisclosed role.

What Is the Plot of 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'?

At the DC FanDome panel in August 2020, Wan stated, “The second one is a little bit more serious, a little more relevant to the world we’re living in today. That’s where it wants to go.”

Hints of a revised tone sent waves of trepidation through the hearts of fans who adore the movie for its cheesy fun, but Wan’s refusal to move forward until the script and story were right should instill steadfast confidence. In an August 2021 interview, Wan opened up slightly more on the decision to tread a darker path for the sequel.

“Well, the first movie took a lot of people by surprise, right? And that’s partially because they were not familiar with the comic book, which deals in this very lurid, strange world...People were taken aback that I didn’t throw all that stuff away and make a dark, heavy film. But I didn’t feel that would have been right for it. So, with the second film, I feel it will be easier for people to accept where we go because I’ve already laid the foundation.”

When discussing Arthur and Orm's relationship, director James Wan said:

"Obviously, as you can see in the trailer, they don't get along, they come from different worlds, and obviously they were antagonists in the first movie, but in this one, they had to kind of put their differences aside to try and work together to try and overcome a greater cause. I feel like that is such a universal theme that even applies for us in our world today that I really appreciate, and I hope people will be into that, as well."

The director also offered insight into his inspirations for the film, noting the 1965 Italian horror film Planet of the Vampires. The campy, sci-fi scary movie sees a spaceship crew battling one another on a foreign planet as their minds and bodies are taken over by disembodied beings. Fresh off the development and release of Malignant, Wan’s Giallo-inspired slasher that Collider’s review called bonkers in the best way, it’s safe to say some of that inspiration rolled over into the dark and mysterious oceans of the DCEU. Wan has also posted hints specifically pertaining to the lost kingdom of Atlantis known as Necrus. In the comic, Necrus is a vanishing city, foiled against Atlantis. It disappears and reappears in different spots through the wonder of technology. Wan hinted about the challenges of making the sequel, especially since the film will be the final installment in this iteration of the DCEU.

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.

When Did 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' Film?

In early June 2021, James Wan revealed the title via a picture from a production meeting. Cameras officially started rolling later that month, with Momoa revealing he first landed in London to start filming in July 2021 with production wrapping in January 2022. The film reportedly went through three sets of reshoots as well in order to accommodate the ever-changing DC Universe.