Right after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania succeeded only in being a disappointment for Marvel fans, it looks like the DC fandom may be next in line to show up to a theater only to have chunks blown at them with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
A report from Jeff Sneider (via The Direct), someone who tends to reliably be in the know about what’s going on behind closed doors over at DC Studios, suggests that Jason Momoa is hanging up his trident after the upcoming film and abandoning ship, in large part because of how bad it is.
While many may have presumed that Jason’s iteration of Aquaman would be getting ditched due to James Gunn’s soft reboot of the DCU, much like his peer Henry Cavill, if Sneider’s comment holds weight, perhaps Momoa was afforded the opportunity to continue on as Aquaman but opted for the alternative of Lobo after reading the room based on early reactions to his standalone sequel.
If Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is indeed rubbish, this doesn’t bode particularly well for comic book movies in 2023. The jury’s still out on whether Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be any good. At the very least, The Flash is looking like DC’s saving grace for the year, but even that is bogged down by leading man Ezra Miller’s questionable-at-best behaviors.
Needless to say, there’s a fair bit riding on James Gunn at the moment, who has his fingers in both Marvel and DC pies this year.