Three months ago, Warner Bros. Discovery announced Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's premiere had been pushed forward. Turns out, that doesn't mean things have gone smoothly since principal photography finished in January 2022.
The Hollywood Reporter claims Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom recently finished its third round of reshoots after a second lead to even worse reviews from test viewers. It's not clear what the issues were, but one person claimed story clarity was one of them. That's not the only change either.
Their sources also say that the latest cut of the film doesn't include Batman. The original plan was to have Michael Keaton's version of the character appear, but he was replaced after reshoots with Ben Affleck in the role last year. Then Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was delayed again, meaning it would debut after The Flash, putting Affleck's appearance in question. Combine this with the sources claiming DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran do not like the idea of alluding to a movie universe that we know won't continue, and it's understandable why we most likely won't see Keaton or Affleck's Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Either way, time will tell if third time's a charm for Jason Momoa's second stand-alone movie as Arthur Curry.