Looper’s review of “Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom” is largely critical, reflecting an predominately negative sentiment from professional reviewers overall. Since the DCEU is ending regardless of the critical response to the film, this reception has little bearing on the future of DC movies on the whole. But Jason Momoa himself may well end up losing out on his Aquaman role after “Aquaman 2.”
James Gunn, notably, answered the DC Universe’s biggest question when he confirmed that some DCEU actors will reprise their characters even if their prior film work isn’t exactly canon. Gunn specifically listed Xolo Maridueña, who stars in “Blue Beetle,” as someone who will maintain his role in the new DCU. Momoa, however, seems to think his return is unlikely. “The truth of it is, I mean, if the audience loves it, then there’s a possibility,” he told Entertainment Tonight about a week before the “Lost Kingdom” premiere. “But right now, I’m like, ‘It’s not looking too good.'”
If a positive reception is what it would take for Momoa to return in a future DCU film, then the emerging critical sentiment toward “Aquaman 2” may well spell doom for Momoa’s DC movie future, killing off his take on Aquaman despite the character surviving the events of “The Lost Kingdom.”
