There is no doubt that DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are still adamant about rebuilding the DCU. Obviously, the question is, what does this mean for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom? Is the Aquaman sequel a part of the DC Extended Universe or the new DCU?
DC finally dropped the official trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the returning titular hero has never looked better. Black Manta is coming back to get his revenge against Arthur Curry’s own family, leading the Atlantean King to seek help from an unlikely ally.
Here's everything you need to know about when the events of Aquaman 2 take place in the DCEU.
Is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Still Set in the DCEU?
Arthur Curry may have made his official debut in the Justice League movie, but the first Aquaman movie showed that the events of that film didn’t matter.
One key scene that proves this is how Aquaman met Mera in the first place. At the time, Arthur had a different story about his mother.
He was deliberately abandoned on the doorstep, and Aquaman hated her for that, unlike what was depicted in his original film.
Since he already met Mera in the Justice League movie, shouldn’t he have known who she was in the Aquaman film?
Despite this, it would seem that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is still set in the DC Extended Universe. In fact, Aquaman 2 is set to be the last film engulfed around that timeline.
According to rumors, the Aquaman sequel is meant to bridge the original DCEU and the upcoming DCU, which will eventually lead directly into Superman: Legacy.
While it hasn’t been fully confirmed yet, here is what Aquaman’s director has to say about the film’s connection:
RELATED: What To Watch Before Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s Director Debunks DCEU Connection
Apart from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s intertwined timeline with the DCEU and the new DCU, there had been rumors of Michael Keaton’s and Ben Affleck’s Batman potentially gracing the screens of the sequel, just like what DC did with The Flash.
When asked about their cameos and how Aquaman 2 fits into the franchise, here’s what director James Wan had to say on Entertainment Weekly in September 2023:
“At the end of the day, the best thing I would say about this movie is that it is not connected to any of those films. That’s the bottom line.”
To clarify, Wan’s words don’t mean the Aquaman sequel isn’t connected to the DCEU, but rather, the events don’t take place right after The Flash and Justice League’s storylines.
Although, Wan did say that was one of the things he liked about helming the two Aquaman films (via CinemaBlend):
"I've always designed these two films to be within their own world, and so the advantage about not being hooked into this bigger universe is ultimately whatever happens over there, it doesn't really affect my movie, right?"
As for whether we’ll be seeing Bruce Wayne with Aquaman on the big screens in December: “You’re going to have to wait for the movie to come out.”
Perhaps taking Marvel's Superhero Fatigue as a lesson, there's a chance the Aquaman sequel is not forced to connect the film to the 'bigger' Metaverse of DC. However, how this will play out in the future remains unknown. For now.
READ NEXT: Will Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Have Post-Credit Scenes?
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