Former Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa has famously broad shoulders, natural charisma, and a knack for action that helped carry 2018’s Aquaman movie to heights that no other DC film has reached. Even The Dark Knight couldn’t match Aquaman‘s $1.152 billion worldwide total. This Christmas, Momoa will have an even more monumental task as he tries to lift up not only his new sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but also all of superhero cinema. It’s been a very bad year for superhero flicks at the box office, with only Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as success stories. Everything else, from The Flash to The Marvels were absolute flops that lost their respective studios a lot of money. And it’s not as if Aquaman 2 doesn’t have its own problems, with numerous reshoots and a clear demotion for the film’s leading lady, Amber Heard.
Who’s starring in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
In addition to Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman and Amber Heard as his wife, Mera, the film features Patrick Wilson as Arthur’s half-brother, Orm Marius, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane/Black Manta, Nicole Kidman as Arthur and Orm’s mother, Atlanna, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin, Vincent Regan as Atlan, Jani Zhao as Stingray, and Indya Moore as Karshon.
Why does Amber Heard have so little screen time in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
Director James Wan has said that Heard’s reduced role is because he wanted the second movie to focus on the relationship between Arthur and Orm as they reluctantly team up against Black Manta. However, that doesn’t account for the way that Heard’s role in the movie has been largely absent from the trailers to date, save for a brief glimpse of Mera in jeopardy (pictured above). Between the first and second films, Arthur and Mera got married and had a child, but you’d hardly know that Heard was in this movie based on the publicity campaign.
Heard remains a controversial figure over her very public courtroom fight with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. However, the rumored reasons for Heard’s diminished part in this sequel indicate that the issue may have been the chemistry between Momoa and Heard. But we don’t have a definitive answer for that beyond hearsay from other people. Neither Heard nor Momoa has addressed her smaller role in the sequel.
Is there a new trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
There is, and it reveals a lot more about the story and why the stakes are so personal for Arthur. In one of the new scenes from the trailer, Arthur’s father, Tom Curry, is badly injured outside of their home in Maine. Tom also warns Arthur that Black Manta has kidnapped his son, Arthur Jr., which is also part of Manta’s revenge against Aquaman. If Black Manta can use Arthur Jr.’s royal blood to free several god-like creatures from captivity then all of Atlantis is in jeopardy. To stop that from happening, Arthur has to turn to Orm for help.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will swim into theaters on December 22.
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