Fans were left disappointed when it was revealed that Ben Affleck’s cameo as Batman would not be included in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. However, director James Wan recently clarified that the scene was never intended to be a part of the sequel.
Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom has undergone significant changes within DC Studios, leading many to believe that there were issues behind the scenes. The decision to remove such a prominent cameo with Ben Affleck’s Batman only added fuel to these speculations. When asked about the possibility of the scene being released in the future, James Wan explained that it was filmed as a contingency plan:
“Probably not,” Wan revealed to Empire Magazine. “Those scenes were shot just to have something in case we needed to explain time continuity if we were released first.”
While it is disappointing for fans not to see Ben Affleck’s return in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, it is also reassuring to know that the decision to cut Batman was not an attempt to maintain continuity. This indicates that James Wan is carefully navigating the production, offering some hope for the upcoming DC Studios film before the reboot.
The Future of the DC Universe
James Gunn and Peter Safran recently discussed their vision for the DC Universe, which includes locked scripts, flexibility, and a unified storyline across various mediums like films, television, animation, and video games. They emphasized that the new DC Universe could incorporate elements from previous iterations, highlighting that their long-term plan is not a complete reboot.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle have already been released following the announcement of the new DC Universe. Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is still scheduled to hit theaters in 2023. Whether characters from these movies will appear in the new DCU remains unknown, with Gunn and Safran keeping their plans under wraps.
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