James Wan Comments on ‘Aquaman 2’ Troubled Development – The Narrative Is Not Real

The DCEU is gearing up for a reboot, transitioning into the newly established DCU. With just one movie left before the overhaul, all eyes are on the highly anticipated ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ The first ‘Aquaman’ was a massive hit with both critics and at the box office. However, amidst the DCEU’s waning success and a string of unsuccessful projects, the buzz for ‘Aquaman 2’ has somewhat diminished.

Compounding the challenges, the movie faced minimal marketing efforts due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, preventing actors from promoting it. Additionally, the controversy surrounding Amber Heard, who retained her role as Mera amid a highly publicized trial with ex-spouse Johnny Depp, added another layer of difficulty. A similar situation unfolded in the ‘Flash’ movie when Ezra Miller kept his role despite controversy.

Even when the movie garnered positive attention, rumors circulated about its troubled development. Reports suggested extensive reshoots and multiple rounds of test screenings due to predominantly negative results. In July, Patrick Wilson, who portrayed King Orm in the first film, confirmed ongoing reshoots at that point.

Recently, there have been rumors circulating that Jason Momoa was occasionally intoxicated on set and allegedly harassed his co-star, Amber Heard, by impersonating Johnny Depp. Additionally, Heard supposedly expressed feeling unsupported by the director in her journal. Interestingly, the movie has become more of a hotbed for rumors about its production than discussions about the actual plot, creating a notably negative buzz months ahead of its release.

However, in a recent interview with Empire Magazine, the movie’s director, James Wan, clarified the situation. He asserted that the film underwent only about 7 or 8 days of reshoots, countering the prevailing narrative and insisting that the rumors surrounding the movie are entirely inaccurate.

We have big actors in this movie and everyone’s schedule is really hard. So, we had to break up our shooting schedule into sections. We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like, ‘Oh, they’re doing a whole bunch of different shoots!’ No. If we actually combined them all together, it’s actually not that many number of days at all.

He also commented on how he dealt with all the negativity online.

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’ hits theaters on December 20, 2023. Are you excited about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!”