AQUAMAN 2 Director James Wan Explains Ben Affleck's Cut Batman Cameo
Ben Affleck did reprise his role as Batman for a scene in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but the cameo ended up being cut. That news came after the film had gone through extensive reshoots. Now, director James Wan has offered some insight into why the cameo was shot in the first place.
During an interview with Empire, when Wan was asked if Affleck would appear in the movie as Batman, he explained:
“Probably not. All I’ll say is that those scenes were just to have something in the bank in case we needed to explain time continuity if we came out first.“
So, there was no real substance to the scenes that involved Batman. This is a different explanation than what we previously got. The initial report said that Batman was cut from the film because James Gunn and Peter Safran “do not want to promise a movie universe that will not come to fruition, nor tie it down excessively to past failures.” One source said, “It was pretty chaotic.”
Regardless of the reason, Affleck will not appear in the film, and it really doesn’t matter. This is the last DC movie that was made under the old regime and it really won’t have anything to do with the DC universe moving forward. It seems like that’s one of the main reasons why there’s not much excitement or hype for the movie.
In the film, “Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all,” the official Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom synopsis reads. “This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.”
Jason Momoa stars as Aquaman in the movie and he’s joined by Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin.