Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have had to make some considerable shuffles with 2018’s planned DC Extended Universe movies. The first of these major shuffles came from a recent indefinite delay for that year’s The Flash movie, which has lost two directors now, and bears no canonical relation to The CW’s highly successful The Flash television series. Another big shuffle has now occurred with 2018’s DC movie slate as well, as Aquaman, the other known DC Extended Universe movie planned for 2018, has been delayed out of its July 27th, 2018 release date.
Fortunately, Aquaman still has a date pegged on the calendar, unlike The Flash for now, and is now set to release on October 5th, 2018. This is a date that Warner Bros. had previously reserved for an unidentified DC Extended Universe movie, with November 1st, 2019 also being held by the studio for another unidentified DC Extended Universe movie. With Aquaman now being slotted in to the October 5th, 2018 date, it’s possible that The Flash could eventually be placed in Aquaman’s former July 27th, 2018 date. Previously, The Flash was scheduled to hit theatres on March 16th, 2018, though Warner Bros. has since filled that date with their Tomb Raider movie reboot instead.
This turn of events also makes it more likely that the November 1st, 2019 date will be filled by Ben Affleck’s The Batman if The Flash takes Aquaman’s former date, with The Batman proceeding well in pre-production, as most of its lead cast and main villain are already publicly known. It’s theoretically possible that The Batman could also be slotted in to the July 27th, 2018 date however, since it’s further along in production than The Flash at this point. This outcome isn’t wholly likely, granted, since that would no doubt affect the planned progression of the DC Extended Universe canon, though it’s not impossible, if reports of The Batman filming around April to June of next year are to be believed. It largely depends on how fast Affleck can polish up the movie’s script, which he co-wrote with DC movie boss, Geoff Johns.
Aquaman, to be directed by The Conjuring and Furious 7 helmer, James Wan, will star Jason Momoa in the title role, a DC superhero and founding member of the Justice League that serves as King of Atlantis, being a half-human/half-Atlantean royal that goes by the civilian identity of Arthur Curry. Momoa made a brief cameo as Aquaman in this year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and will play a proper role in next year’s DC ensemble movie, Justice League, alongside Amber Heard as love interest, Mera, and Willem Dafoe as trusted Atlantis advisor, Vulko, both of whom will return in the solo Aquaman movie. While officially unconfirmed for now, Aquaman’s villain is said to be the titular hero’s human arch-nemesis, Black Manta, an autistic and vengeful mastermind of underwater technology and weaponry, who has made it his personal mission to destroy Aquaman and conquer Atlantis.
Keep swimming to Eggplante for all major news and updates on Aquaman, and other projects of the DC Extended Universe.