Despite previous reporting, the final DCEU movie might not be the massive crossover some had hoped.
Aquaman 2 is set to swim into theaters later this year, rounding out Warner Bros.' DCEU, before the super-powered franchise gets a reset courtesy of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
James Wan's latest aquatic adventure has seen plenty of change both in and around it over its production cycle, as release dates shuffled, new regimes took over, and the direction of the blue brand ebbed and flowed.
The DCEU swansong has been described as a "very standalone film;" however, reports have indicated that some familiar faces will be popping up to say goodbye to the franchise in its current form, but nothing on that front has been confirmed.
Aquaman 2 Gets a DCEU Crossover Update
In anticipation of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, director James Wan gave a frustrating update on the possibility of the film crossing over with other characters and movies in the DCEU.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Wan revealed, Aquaman 2 "is not connected in any way to any [other DCEU films]" despite reports of cameos for Ben Affleck and Micheal Keaton's Batman making headlines over the last year and change:
"The tricky thing early on was not knowing whether 'Aquaman' would come out first or come out after ['The Flash']. So, we just had to be prepared. At the end of the day, the best thing I would say about this movie is that it is not connected in any way to any of those films. That's the bottom line."
When prodded further on the potential appearance of any other DCEU heroes, Wan simply said, "No comment:"
"That's a 'no comment,' right now. You're going to have to wait for the movie to come out."
Seeing as Aquaman 2 will serve as the final DCEU film, some had suspected the movie would give fans an opportunity to say goodbye to heroes from across the franchise, but these comments put that into question.
Who Could Cameo in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
These latest quotes from director James Wan are going to be frustrating for fans who were hoping they would get some more face time with the heroes of the DCEU before the franchise goes through the impending Gunn/Safran reboot.
Not all hope is lost though. There have been plenty of reports and rumors of names like Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, and Micheal Keaton all popping up in Aquaman's latest Atlantean adventure.
Now Warner Bros. (WB) has not outright confirmed any of these returning characters to appear, but they (along with James Wan) have not denied it either.
Aquaman 2 was never meant to be put in this position. It was initially developed as a sequel to 2018's Aquaman and that was really it.
However, in the time since its announcement it has been moved around the calendar several times, and now has the added pressure of closing out this era of DC movies.
Surely, with all the reshoots the movie has undergone as well, WB will sneak at least one super-powered crossover in there just to acknowledge that this is the end of an era for the brand.
However, given the financial and critical missteps of the franchise's last few entries, it would not be all that surprising if Aquaman 2 comes with not even a nod to the greater DCEU as the curtains close on this lackluster period of DC on the big screen.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom comes to theaters on December 20.
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