Warner Bros. has taken a slow and steady approach with Aquaman that I think is to its benefit. After the $1.1B haul the DC Comics flick brought in, they could've tried to rush James Wan into doing another, but instead we won't see a sequel until December 2022. That leaves Wan, who has a knack for cranking out successful franchises, time to do other things before diving back into the deep.
Wan indicated to Cinemablend that he'll be directing another film before tackling Aquaman 2...
“I think I kinda know, " Wan said. "It won’t be ‘Aquaman 2’ just yet. I have something else I’m cooking up. I’m not ready to share just yet.”
While he doesn't want to spill the beans on that one, we do know Wan will also be kept busy as one of Hollywood's most prolific producers. There's the Aquaman horror spinoff The Trench which begins shooting soon, plus a Mortal Kombat reboot and an entire Conjuring Universe at his disposal. One of those films is this weekend's Annabelle Comes Home which is poised to be as huge as the rest of them, and The Conjuring 3 which opens next year.
In the case of The Conjuring 3, Wan has handed the directing reins over to Michael Chaves, who directed Conjuring spinoff The Curse of La Llorona. In his entire career Wan has never completed an entire trilogy of movies, despite being part of numerous successful franchises including Saw, Insidious, and Fast & the Furious. When asked why, Wan basically says it's all about wanting to move on to the next new thing...
"It's weird. Everyone wants me to do the full trilogy thing; I'm like, 'If you're lucky enough to get me to come back to do the second one…' - A. And B, usually by the time I get to number two, I always feel like I've said all I need to say, and I'm ready to move on. I'm ready to move on to go start something new, do something else that excites me. That's how it's always been for me. For me, it's a very organic process. I only make movies that I want to see. That's the bottom line."
What this tells me is that whenever Wan does get back behind the camera for Aquaman 2 it will probably be the last one he does before passing the baton to someone else.
