How Aquaman’s Story Ended In Snyder’s Original Justice League 2 & 3 Plan

Warning: Spoilers For Zack Snyder’s Justice League

With Zack Snyder’s Justice League now streaming across the world, how was Aquaman‘s story going to end in the two now-canceled sequels to the film? The Snyder Cut can currently be seen on HBO Max in the U.S. and on other streaming services internationally, and the response to the movie has all-around been very positive. With Jason Momoa returning once more as Aquaman, Momoa himself played a key role early on in the conversation about a movie that was once seen as an internet myth.

Directly asked about the Snyder Cut during the press tour for Aquaman, Momoa openly declared “Yeah, f–k yeah, I wanna see it!“, while later revealing to have seen the film himself months ahead of its eventual greenlight. As with all of the core characters of the movie, Arthur’s story is now far more fleshed out and integrated into the League’s formation. With the movie also being part three of what Zack Snyder intended to be a five-part story, Arthur’s role as both a core member of the Justice League and the King of Atlantis were to be major elements.

A recently released collection of whiteboards shown at an AT&T exhibit have provided a basic overview of where Snyder’s story was meant to go in Justice League 2 and Justice League 3. While it does need to be emphasized that certain details have since been altered or modified, as Snyder himself has made clear, a great general road map can nonetheless be seen of the respective stories of each individual member of the Justice League and the role they had to play in each movie. Here’s where Aquaman’s story was intended to take him in Justice League 2 and Justice League 3.

Aquaman’s Story In Justice League Snyder Cut Explained

On the spectrum of the Justice League’s new recruits, Arthur Curry is the loner who takes the most convincing, with Mera ultimately persuading him to do so after Steppenwolf steals the second Mother Box from Atlantis and Arthur truly understands the seriousness of the situation. As in the theatrical cut, Arthur is mistrustful of Victor due to his connection to the Mother Box and more than a little annoyed when Barry Allen trips him up in battle. However, Arthur begins to empathize with Victor after Silas sacrifices himself, confiding these feelings to Barry while still trying to keep the rest of the League at arm’s length.

As the member of the team with the strongest desire to, in his words, “be left alone“, Arthur is far from eager to take his place among the people of Atlantis, describing them to Vulko as “a brutal, petty, superstitious race“. Though Arthur’s perspective doesn’t change by the end of the movie, he becomes less of an outsider through his relationship with Diana, the two becoming the first Atlantean and Amazon to find common ground in eons. In all, Arthur’s arc in the Snyder Cut is one of learning that he doesn’t have to keep his distance from people as he once believed he did, and though he still favors his human heritage at the end, departing Mera and Vulko to reconnect with his father, Arthur realizes that he may not need to always be on his own with his role in helping the League defeat Steppenwolf.

Aquaman’s Story In Snyder’s Original Justice League 2 Plans

What Arthur’s role would be in Justice League 2 if the movie were to be made today is a bit trickier to pin down compared to his teammates, because of the overall layout the whiteboards present, and the tweaks to the plan that were subsequently made. In any case, the whiteboards show Arthur attempting to unite the seven underwater kingdoms with the help of Mera, eventually succeeding in doing so. However, as part of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom plot, the imprisoned Orm and Black Manta attack Atlantis and kill Arthur, with Mera escaping. At the same time, Darkseid’s invasion of Earth also takes place, with Superman being pulled to his side by way of the Anti-Life Equation and Earth falling to Apokolips.

More recent descriptions Snyder has given present a modified picture of Justice League 2 as a full-blown Knightmare movie, with Batman’s alliance consisting of Cyborg, The Flash, Mera, Deathstroke, and The Joker building the Cosmic Treadmill to send Barry back in time to rewrite the timeline. Victor’s vision of the Knightmare also shows Darkseid attack Atlantis himself, indicating that he now would be the one to slay Arthur in the film. Whatever the case, the death of Aquaman seems to be a consistent element, with Mera eager to avenge his death in the Snyder cut’s Knightmare scene, while Barry being sent back in time to stop Superman from being weaponized by Darkseid has always been present. With the timeline now rewritten, Arthur would be ready for battle once more for Justice League 3.

How Aquaman’s Story Ended In Snyder’s Justice League 3

As the grand finale of Snyder’s five-movie arc, Justice League 3 was to be an epic battle against Darkseid and Apokolips in what Snyder has described as a “New Gods invasion movie“. The League would lead the armies of mankind against Darkseid, with the movie meant to recreate the Snyder Cut’s history lesson of humans, gods, Atlanteans, and Amazons banding together against Apokolips thousands of years ago. Wonder Woman and Aquaman would also recruit Themyscira and Atlantis to join in the battle.

Arthur would convince the seven kingdoms of Atlantis that the surface world is the eighth kingdom. With Atlantis now persuaded to see the surface as allies, Arthur would lead his fellow Atlanteans to join in the battle to defeat Apokolips once and for all. Arthur was then to be recognized by his people as the King to bridge Atlantis and the surface, with his human heritage now being revered as much as his Atlantean origins.

Aquaman 2 & DCEU Future Explained

Jason Momoa’s future as Aquaman has never been in doubt. After 2018’s Aquaman became the biggest DC movie of all time, Aquaman 2 was swiftly greenlit and is currently set to hit theaters on December 16th, 2022, while The Trench spin-off is also in the works. That said, with The Flash slated to be released in November of that year, and Black Adam having recently been rescheduled to July of 2022, it wouldn’t be surprising for Aquaman 2 to be pushed back into 2023.

When it comes to Justice League 2 and Justice League 3, a recent interview with Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff shut the door on Snyder’s story being continued. That being said, with #RestoreTheSnyderVerse trending at over 1.5 million tweets recently, calls for more of Snyder’s original plan are sure to persist. Jason Momoa himself also beat the drum very heavily for the Snyder Cut to be released in the first place. Though Arthur’s ending in the Snyder Cut leads into his solo film, Snyder’s comments regarding the film diverging from the DCEU continuity leave its canonicity with Aquaman debatable, but DC would need only throw the Multiverse term out to get around that if need be. Regardless, Aquaman 2 is where Arthur Curry will next be seen.

Interest in seeing the rest of Snyder’s story through increased thanks to the Snyder Cut, but for now, Warner Bros. decision on the matter stands, and whether or not anything changes on that front remains to be seen. With Aquaman 2 in the works, Jason Momoa will nevertheless carry the trident again after his portrayal of Aquaman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

About The Author

Brad Curran
(714 Articles Published)

Growing up, Brad developed an innate love of movies and storytelling, and was instantly enamored with the world of adventure while following the exploits of Indiana Jones, Japanese kaiju, and superheroes. Today, Brad channels his thoughts on all manner of movies, from comic book films, sci-fi thrillers, comedies, and everything in between through his writings on Screen Rant. Brad also offers philosophical musings on martial arts and the filmographies of everyone from Jackie Chan to Donnie Yen on Kung Fu Kingdom, where he’s also had the privilege of interviewing many of the world’s great stunt professionals, and hearing plenty of gripping stories on injuries incurred in their line of work and the intricacies of designing the acts of death defiance he first thrilled to as a youngster. When he’s not writing, Brad enjoys going on a ride with the latest action hit or Netflix original, though he’s also known to just pop in “The Room” from time to time. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradCurran.

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