James Wan’s Aquaman took many by surprise when it stormed the box office in December 2018, earning over $1.1 billion globally to become the highest-grossing DC Comics adaptation ever made. It marked an impressive solo debut for a character that made their big screen bow by appearing in a GIF in Batman v Superman, and as soon as the numbers came in, the execs at Warner Bros. must have had dollar signs in their eyes.
With the sequel not set to hit theaters until December 2022, fans will have to wait a while before they see Jason Momoa in the flesh as Arthur Curry, but along with horror-tinged spinoff The Trench, the Aquaman franchise is only set to grow bigger with the news that Wan is developing and producing an animated series exclusively for HBO Max.
Titled Aquaman: King of Atlantis, the series will span three episodes and follow directly on from the conclusion of the movie, with Arthur now sitting on the throne of the underwater kingdom. While it certainly sounds as though it will be canon alongside the superhero’s DCEU adventures, the official synopsis doesn’t reveal much in the way of plot specifics.
“Between dealing with unscrupulous surface-dwellers, elder evils from beyond time and his own half-brother who wants to overthrow him, Aquaman is going to have to rise to the challenge and prove to his subjects, and to himself, that he’s the right man for the trident.”
There’s no news on whether Jason Momoa is part of the project, but it seems incredibly likely given his obvious love of playing the character, as well as his heavy involvement on the creative side of things. In fact, it would be surprising if the animated show didn’t feature at least a few actors reprising their roles, given how heavily Warner Bros. are investing in HBO Max, Snyder Cut or not. Either way, it will serve to keep Arthur Curry fresh in the minds of fans and subscribers until the standalone Aquaman sequel eventually gets released.