Patrick Wilson has officially begun training to reprise his role as Arthur Curry's Atlantean half-brother Orm/Ocean Master in Aquaman 2.
Wilson confirmed the news by posting a photo of the sweaty aftermath from his workout to Instagram, writing, "Let the training commence." According to Dolph Lundgren, who played King Nereus in the first Aquaman movie, filming on the sequel is slated to begin this summer, with James Wan returning in the director's chair.
In the first Aquaman, then-King Orm attempted to unite the seven underwater kingdoms in a war against the surface world, only for Arthur to foil his plans by claiming the Trident of Atlan and defeating Orm in combat, making Arthur the new ruler of Atlantis. Wilson hinted at Orm's Aquaman 2 role in Nov. 2019, teasing, "I’m slightly briefed [on Orm-related matters]. I just throw a little dart here and there. I’ll say, ‘So, what about this?’ and [James Wan will] say, ‘Well, this is what I’m thinking.’ I can tell you that even his concepts for Aquaman 2 are pushing it even further.”
Prior to Aquaman, Wan and Wilson collaborated on the first two films in the Insidious and The Conjuring franchises. Wan would go on to inject some horror into his first DC Extended Universe movie, most notably during the scene where Arthur and Mera are attacked by the cannibalistic inhabitants of The Trench. The director revealed his plans to include similar horror elements in Aquaman 2 during a discussion at DC FanDome 2020. "Just like the first movie had a touch of my horror sensibility, you know, in regards to the Trench sequence. I would say there will be a little bit of that in this next one," Wan said.
While Warner Bros. is moving forward full-speed ahead with Aquaman 2, the studio recently canceled Wan's developing spinoff The Trench. Reportedly, the studio decided the Aquaman sequel was enough for the time being, even though The Trench would've functioned as more of a standalone project with limited connections to the larger DCEU. In a statement confirming it had dropped the film, along with Ava DuVernay and Tom King's New Gods, Warner Bros. left the door open for it to revisit both titles down the line.
Directed by James Wan, Aquaman 2 stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Dolph Lundgren and Pilou Asbaek. The film arrives in theaters Dec. 16, 2022.
Source: Instagram