The Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom press tour is heating up, so you know what that means: time to get real sad about the future of Aquaman, thanks to Jason Momoa.
In an interview with ET to ostensibly promote Aquaman 2, Momoa threw cold water on the franchise’s future when asked about the possibility of more appearances as the Sea King.
“I don’t necessarily want it to be the end… [but] I don’t think it’s really, like, a choice,” Momoa said. “The truth of it is, I mean, if the audience loves it, then there’s a possibility. But right now, I’m like, ‘It’s not looking too good.'”
This is exactly not the sort of thing you want to say after a year of dour box office releases for Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios. The Flash stopped running at $108 million domestically. Shazam: Fury of the Gods tapped out at $57 million. And Blue Beetle maxed out at $72 million. In the interest of clarity, all three movies have done solidly to very well on streaming, as far as those numbers are shared with the public. But this is a bumpy runway leading into the release of the new Aquaman movie.
The first Aquaman was an enormous hit back in 2018, grossing over a billion dollars for the biggest box office take in DC history. But that was back when superhero movies were bulletproof. Now, in 2023, The Marvels also followed up on a billion-dollar hit, and imploded at the box office, ending its run with $83 million domestically.
This is a long way of saying that Aquaman 2 has a lot working against it. Working for it? Usually, we would say Momoa’s charm and enthusiasm, but even he seems to be dour on the possibility of continuing — despite loving the character.
“I love this character and [I would want to] play it for a long time,” Momoa added. “I kind of see where I would want it to go. And even in the next 10 years or so, like there’s a lot of cool things they can do. And I do enjoy the role and the world. So, I mean, it just comes down to if people love it.”
Given James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken over DC Studios, with a planned reboot of the franchise to soft-launch next year with the animated Creature Commandos, followed by the live-action Superman: Legacy in 2025, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom probably is it for Momoa’s time under da sea. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be Momore to come.
“If there’s a place in their world for me, I would love to be a part of it,” Momoa added. “This is my home. Warner and DC is definitely my home. So, that’s all I’ll say.”
What he’s not saying is the popular rumor that Momoa will transition from playing Aquaman, to Lobo. We’ll see if he trades being water-logged Wolverine for space Wolverine as the slow march to the new DCU continues.
Alex, I sincerely love everything you and Pete and Justin do. But it feels like, at this point, you’re putting out so much content (all appreciated)that we might need to have an intervention. I hope you and the family are having a Happy Hanukkah