Jason Momoa Might Be Saying Goodbye To DC's Aquaman Franchise Due To The 'Terrible' Test Screenings Of December's 'Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom'

Feb 27

Jason Momoa as Aquaman — Image Source: IGN

Peter Safran and James Gunn have been bringing some long-awaited and long-needed order to the DC on-screen universe (universes?). As with any decision regarding popular franchises, the response from the online community varied from understanding and positive to all caps and moronic. Through all this, there has been continued excitement for the release of Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom. The first film is the only DCEU film to gross over $1 billion at the box office, and Director James Wan has consistently shown that he can bring his horror heritage into differing genres successfully. However, with the long-awaited release date edging closer, the scheduled test screenings have yielded some worrying results. In no uncertain terms, they are an unqualified disaster.

I hear it’s terrible and that’s why Momoa is gonna be Lobo going forward. But they can’t say that yet because then it would be a lame duck… and DC is hoping to wring another billion out of the box office. First one was awful too, so not a huge surprise. https://t.co/VlbUoqILDm
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) February 20, 2023

Rumors continue to swirl that Jason Momoa himself is angry at how poor the screenings were and that Ben Affleck’s supposed cameo is now cut as well. Even many industry critics are avoiding talking about the screenings altogether for fear of Black Adam-style reprisals. One thing that is consistent across the scattered reports is that Jason Momoa is not the problem with the film. It is just not in the style and world that Gunn and Safran are looking to create. Ignoring all this though, ANY film still has to stand on its own merit. This is something that DC’s rivals in Camp Marvel have been accused of in recent years that some of its films are just to set the scene or tee up a later film rather than tell their own self-contained story. This would lend itself to further reports that Momoa will be moving from the ocean to the stars, becoming DC’s Lobo in the near future.

All this being said, it is worth remembering that the movie has not been released yet. These advance screenings allow filmmakers and studios to take feedback, and potentially make changes. However, there is a cost implication attached to this route as well for reshoots, re-edits, postproduction, etc.

Everyone can find out for themselves when Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom is released at the end of July 2023.

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