It’s finally happened. James Wan’s Aquaman officially has a release date of October 5th, 2018 in both 3D and IMAX.
This is important for several reasons. First of all, it puts to bed rumors that Aquaman would take The Flash’s slot in March 2018. After The Flash lost its director Rick Famuyiwa earlier this year, and the positive buzz surrounding Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman heading into Justice League, it was rumored that Warner Bros. might fast track Aquaman, but that seems to no longer be the case.
The Aquaman rumors also stayed in line with the possibility of Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film taking the October 2018 slot. In an overall controversial film, Affleck was pretty unanimously praised as the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman. With confirmation that he will be directing the solo Batman film and is co-writing with Geoff Johns, fans have speculated that Warner Bros. would want to put a date on that as soon as possible.
Unless they fast track the solo Batman film to March 2018 and delay The Flash, we won’t be seeing an Affleck-directed Batman film until at least 2019.
The final reason this announcement is important is that it shows Warner Bros. still has confidence in their DC movie slate. With three divisive films in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad, with the last two scoring below 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was likely WB would wait and see how critics and fans reacted to Wonder Woman and Justice League next year before pressing forward. This either shows they’ve seen enough of those two films to be confident in them or they trust in Geoff Johns, who is now in charge of the DC Extended Universe.
Aquaman made his cinematic debut earlier this year in a short cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, when Wonder Woman was looking through Lex Luthor’s metahuman files. The character will next be seen fighting alongside Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Superman in Justice League on November 17, 2017, where he will make his official onscreen debut. If Zack Snyder’s Comic-Con teaser was any indication, Aquaman’s debut might revolve around kicking Bruce Wayne’s butt.
Aquaman will star Jason Momoa as King Arthur Curry aka Aquaman and Amber Heard as Queen Mera, who will be making her cinematic debut in Justice League.