It’s no secret that “The Lost Kingdom” has been a troubled production mired in setbacks and behind-the-scenes drama. It’s undergone multiple rounds of reshoots, pandemic-related delays, extended postproduction, and has had its release date pushed back three times in four years. To top it all off, due to restructuring at Warner Bros. and James Gunn taking the helm at DC Studios, this will be the last entry in the DC Extended Universe. While that wasn’t originally planned to be the case, many fans will likely now look to the movie to tie up any dangling plot threads left in the franchise.
So, is it really the best idea to spend time developing new characters in a franchise already on borrowed time? Because Topo has decades’ worth of history with Aquaman, it feels like an odd choice to dedicate screentime to fleshing him out as a side character at the last second. Instead of spending as much time as possible with characters we may be seeing for the last time, we’ll see the character development of what was essentially an Easter egg in the first “Aquaman.”
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is undeniably in a tough spot ahead of its release. Beyond being a notoriously troubled production, the movie now unexpectedly carries the burden of being the DCEU’s swan song. While giving Topo more attention now may please longtime fans of the comics, it can also mean less time to wrap up the story of not only Arthur Curry but the entire DCEU.
