‘Aquaman 2’: Arthur Curry Is Working with His Brother in First ‘The Lost Kingdom’ Footage | CinemaCon

Fresh off the unveiling of their newly-minted Max streaming service, Warner Bros. took a trip to Las Vegas for CinemaCon, and they made sure to have quite a few more tricks up their sleeve after debuting several new projects earlier this month. In addition to a brand new trailer for The Flash and a full official title for The Conjuring 4, Warner Bros. also showcased the long-awaited Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Though the new footage shown at CinemaCon won’t be released online any time soon, Collider’s Steve Weintraub is on the ground at the event to report back. Towards the end of the Warner Bros. panel DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran took to the stage to present an early “not-quite-finished” trailer and a special message from director James Wan who couldn’t attend due to schedule conflicts. Wan told the audience that “this sequel has everything we love about the first film and more.” Not only will we be going back to Atlantis in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but we’ll also “get to visit beautiful strange new worlds” as Wan and company “expand on the Aquaman universe” and “explore really interesting new characters and new environments.”

Wan went on to discuss the “cutting-edge technology” they used to “capture and construct the movie” to make sure that it looks nothing short of amazing when it hits the big screen at the end of the year. According to the director, the Aquaman sequel has a “romance story at its heart between the two brothers, between Arthur and Orm.” In the first movie, Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) learned that he was destined to be the king of Atlantis, but the one thing standing between him and the throne was his vengeful half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson). Wan explained that “Orm was a villain in the first film, but this time around Arthur needs him to stop a vengeful Black Manta from unleashing a powerful ancient evil.”

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What to Expect From Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

While it might still be quite some time before we get to see the first trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Weintraub was able to jot down some of the dialogue featured in the footage shown to CinemaCon attendees. In line with Wan’s comments, there’s a fun moment between Orm and Arthur in which Aquaman says “No one hits my brother but me,” to which Orm replies, “Don’t call me brother.” From the looks of the footage shown, it seems like Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) intends to get his hands on the Black Trident, with the intention of unlocking his own destiny with little regard for the rest of the world. Arthur and Orm are going to have to work together to stop him and save Atlantis. According to Weintraub, the movie looks absolutely massive in scale and the footage shown featured tons of action.

In addition to Momoa, Wilson, and Abdul-Mateen, the ensemble cast of Aquaman is also expected to return for the sequel, including Amber Heard, Temuera Morrison, and Dolph Lundgren. Wan directs from a script written by his frequent collaborator David Leslie Johnson McGoldrick.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom dives into theaters on December 20, 2023. While we wait for the first trailer to drop online, you can watch our previous conversation with Wilson on the VFX coming in the DC sequel.