Although we reunited Jason Momoa’s Aquaman earlier this year in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, within the DC Extended Universe timeline, his last chronological appearance was in his solo movie, which came out in December 2018. While we’re still a ways off from Aquaman 2, a.k.a. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, from hitting the big screen, Momoa and the rest of the sequel’s cast and crew have finally started filming the sequel. However, the Game of Thrones actor better make sure he has a shirt handy for the first location where they’re rolling cameras.
More than three weeks after he revealed Aquaman 2’s official title, director James Wan announced on Instagram that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has officially begun production, and they’re starting off by capturing some footage in a chilly environment. Take a look:
We’ve seen Jason Momoa go shirtless a lot in the DCEU, whether it’s while rescuing a shipwrecked sailor off the coast of Iceland or tangling with Black Manta and his goons aboard a submarine. But even though Arthur Curry can clearly handle colder temperatures better than the average human, I imagine being in a frigid environment like the one James Wan showed above will make even him want to wear a shirt. And even if Momoa is fully clothed while shooting Aquaman 2 scenes in that location, it’s a good bet there’s someone off-camera waiting to bundle him in a warm coat once “CUT!” is yelled.
It’s unclear where specifically Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is currently filming, but the shooting title on the clapboard is notable. In the pre-Crisis DC Comics canon, Necrus is an underwater city that only exists in the physical plane for brief periods of times. Eventually it disappears, and whenever it reemerges, it’s in a different location. Necrus is also known as the “Black City,” and it was once ruled by the tyrannical Mongo, who hated surface dwellers.
We learned in Aquaman that the original Atlantean empire was split into seven kingdoms after it sunk into the sea. The Kingdom of Atlantis, Xebel, the Kingdom of the Fishermen, the Brine and the Trench are all still around, while the Kingdom of the Deserters was wiped out a long time ago when its sea dried out and it became the Sahara Desert. Then there’s the Missing Kingdom, which simply disappeared one day. That sounds a lot like Necrus, although whether or not the Missing Kingdom will actually be called that in the Aquaman sequel by that name remains to be seen.
Along with Jason Momoa reprising Arthur Curry, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also sees the return of Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master and Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry. It was also reported in April that Pilou Asbæk, who played Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, had joined the Aquaman 2 cast in an undisclosed role. Along with James Wan reprising his directorial duties, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote Aquaman with Will Beall, came back to pen the sequel.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom dives into theaters on December 16, 2022. While we wait for more updates on how principal photography is coming along, look through our upcoming DC movies guide to discover what else the DCEU has coming down the creative pipeline.
