Jason Momoa hasn’t had as rocky of a road as his other Snyder-era DCEU cast members, but it seems like the actor had some of his Aquaman 2 work ignored.
In a new interview with Men’s Health, Momoa opened up about the journey to getting Aquaman 2, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, made and how his story treatment was forgotten. Adding to the coverage, Variety gives a backstory about the reported 50-page treatment.
When discussing Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Momoa told Variety earlier this year why he felt so passionate about the project. “The beautiful thing is me and my partner wrote the first treatment for it, and it was about a 50-page treatment, and a lot of it has to deal with me talking to the U.N. about what’s happening with the melting ice caps,” Momoa said at the time. “There’s no far-off galaxy coming to destroy us or aliens from another place. It’s us ruining our planet. We need to get it together and save our home.”
Now, things are a bit different. That treatment was shelved during production, and Warner Bros. went in a different direction. The actor tells Men’s Health that Momoa got a bit upset when discussing the situation, noting, “[Momoa] says Warner Bros. bought but did not follow [the treatment] completely.” He goes into a rant about why he likes creating his own work.
“That’s the reason why I love directing and creating,” Momoa said. “I don’t wanna just go like, ‘I’m acting. I’ll be in my trailer.’ I love being able to burn for what I believe in. I’ve seen some of the most shocking acting performances firsthand and watched them edited, and they were amazing. I wish I could tell you who it was. I’m like, ‘What the fuck?’ I watched this guy who had to be fucking propped up. They read the lines to him. But this motherfucker killed it when the edit came in and was applauded for it. At that point, I was like, ‘Wow, this shit is made in the edit.'”
This led the actor to get fairly candid about Aquaman and how the success still surprises him. “Well, to be perfectly honest, I was absolutely baffled that ‘Aquaman’ was received so well,” he said. “I’ve done things that are amazing that no one sees and no one gives a shit about. You just don’t know in this business. I don’t go do things and think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get $1 billion on this one.’ I go in and do my best job.”
“It’s not that I don’t care about Aquaman; it’s a wonderful character,” adds Momoa. “Aquaman is probably the hardest character in comic-book history. He’s made fun of and ridiculed, but I tried to give it heart and soul, and I’m proud of it in certain ways. Do I feel pressure for [the sequel] to do well? No. All I can do is give it my all. But it’s in a lot of other people’s hands.”
“When an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom reunites Jason Momoa with director James Wan and co-stars Amber Heard (Mera), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Manta), Patrick Wilson (Orm), Temuera Morrison (Tom Curry), Randall Park (Stephen Shin) and Dolph Lundgren (King Nereus), while Ben Affleck returns as Bruce Wayne. New additions to the cast include Indya Moore (Queen & Slim) as Karshon, Vincent Regan (300) as King Atlan, Jani Zhao (South) as Stingray, and Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) in an as-yet-unrevealed role.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set for release on Christmas Day 2023.
