Jason Momoa in a still from the trailer. (courtesy: YouTube)
The five-year wait is finally over. Jason Momoa is all set to return as Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, the half-human and half-Atlantean hero. The makers released the first trailer of the much-awaited sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on Thursday. It follows the story of Arthur Curry who is “now a husband, and a father”. As he says in the trailer, “I wouldn't have it any other way.” Not to forget, he is also the king of Atlantis. This time Aquaman teams up with his imprisoned brother, the former King of Atlantis, Orm Marius (played by Patrick Wilson), to fight the ruthless Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). The two are joined by their mother, former Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) to save the kingdom from Black Manta who has returned to avenge his father's death. Black Manta is more formidable than before because he wields the power of the Black Trident, an ancient and evil force. He also threatens to “kill Aquaman and everything he holds dear.” In the trailer, actress Amber Heard's Mera also makes an appearance but just for a few seconds towards the end. This is Amber's first project since the 2022 defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
We also get a glimpse of Arthur Curry's child and his father Tom Curry, who is a human and works as a lighthouse keeper.
Along with Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson and Abdul-Mateen, actors including Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Randall Park, and Willem Dafoe will reprise their roles in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Indya Moore, Vincent Regan and Pilou Asbæk have also joined the cast of this DC superhero film.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is helmed by James Wan. The film will be released on December 20.
After the release of the trailer and the buzz around Amber Heard's brief appearance, James Wan opened up about Mera and why the character was minimised in the upcoming film. He told Entertainment Weekly, “I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go. The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera's journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. The first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie. We'll leave it at that.”
Earlier, during the defamation trial, Amber Heard had said, “I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role,” the report added.