Jason Momoa Gets A 'Story By' Credit On Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, And James Wan Reveals The Aspect Of The Actor He Leaned Into The Most
Jason Momoa also worked behind the scenes on Aquaman 2.
While there was a time when Jason Momoa was best known from TV shows like Baywatch: Hawaii, Stargate: Atlantis and Game of Thrones, these days, the actor primarily claim to fame is playing Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe. But Momoa’s connection to the character isn’t just limited to onscreen work, at least when it comes to the upcoming DC movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. He also has a ‘Story By credit on the sequel, and while speaking with CinemaBlend, director James Wan revealed the aspect of the actor he leaned into the most while working on Aquaman 2.
Our own Sean O’Connell had the opportunity to speak with Wan ahead of The Lost Kingdom’s arrival, with this entry on the 2023 release schedule marking the conclusion of the DCEU era. During the conversation, Sean asked what it was like for Wan getting to collaborate with Momoa on the sequel’s story, as the filmmaker was also involved with this portion of the creative process alongside scriptwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Momoa’s friend Thomas Pa'a Sibbett. Wan started off by saying:
Aquaman 2 was officially greenlit in February 2019 following Aquaman hitting $1 billion worldwide and becoming DC’s highest-grossing movie ever. But even before the sequel started moving forward, Jason Momoa thought up a story idea with Thomas Pa'a Sibbett for it and pitched his vision to Warner Bros. executives. It was compelling enough that James Wan and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick crafted the entire narrative out of what the other men came up with, and by May 2019, Momoa shared that the Aquaman 2 story was “locked.”
In the years to follow, among the things we learned about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was that in addition to placing Black Manta as the main antagonist and pairing Arthur Curry and his brother Orm together as allies, we’ll also see Arthur taking care of his newborn son. Given that Momoa is also a father, James Wan felt it was important to highlight that aspect of the real man onto the character he’s been playing since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. As Wan told CinemaBlend:
While it remains to be seen if that disturbing rumor concerning Aquaman’s son comes true, it is nice to hear that him being a father will get a significant amount of screen time alongside exploring his duties as Atlantis’ king. Additionally, Jason Momoa said back in 2022 that The Lost Kingdom will nod at one of his real-life passions, climate change. Mom is joined in the Aquaman 2 cast by returning faces like Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard (albeit in a reduced role), and newcomers like Vincent Regan and Indya Moore.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opens in theaters on December 20, so feel free to stream Aquaman (or any of the DC movies in order) beforehand with a Max subscription. Following its release, the DC Universe Chapter One slate will get underway with projects like Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy, and it’s rumored that Momoa will retire from being Aquaman and start playing Lobo in this new continuity.
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Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.