Something we’ve all come to take for granted when it comes to shared superhero universes on film is their chronology, basically assuming that they’re unfolding in a linear fashion. A prime example of an exception to the rule would be Iron Man 2 actually taking place before the events depicted in The Incredible Hulk – despite it being released two years later. Or, on the DC side of things, Wonder Woman taking place a century prior to Justice League.
That said, we’ve all assumed that Aquaman would chronologically follow Justice League seeing as how their theatrical releases are separated by a thirteen month period. Well, thanks to a recent chat that Cinema Blend had with producer Charles Roven, we can now confirm that to be true, in addition to some cross-pollination:
“Aquaman will make reference [to Justice League]. There will be some reference of something that preceded Aquaman that will be in Aquaman. I believe that is the intention,” said the producer.
If you thought that sounded circular, then check out what he had to say soon afterward, as he began sounding like the Oracle from The Matrix films:
“James [Wan] definitely knows where he’s going with [Aquaman], and that movie takes place in a world where Justice League happened, and Man of Steel happened, and Wonder Woman obviously takes place before Man of Steel — except for the bookends we have.
So that’s where we have the most ability to freeform. We could do a movie that takes place after Justice League, we can do a movie that takes place after Batman v Superman… well not really. You can’t do a movie in between Batman v Superman and Justice League, but we can do movies that take place after Justice League and we can do movies that precede Justice League.”
Although Arthur Curry looks like he may very well steal the show when he unites with some of DC’s other top heroes, we can only hope that there’s ample room for him to develop (you can catch a glimpse at both him and Mera on set here) when Aquaman arrives in theaters on December 21, 2018.
