Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom underwent multiple rounds of reshoots amid a series of seemingly endless release date delays, but one of the biggest changes made to the sequel pertained to Batman.
The Flash was originally supposed to end with Michael Keaton's Batman as a permanent part of the DC Extended Universe; the plan had been for him to appear in Batgirl - which was once set to open before the Aquaman sequel - and then a possible Batman Beyond project. As for Ben Affleck's Caped Crusader, he was going to be sidelined either permanently or at least until Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Test audiences were confused by Keaton's appearance and with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom slotted in for a March 2023 release at one stage - placing it three months before The Flash - Affleck was recruited to reshoot his fellow Dark Knight's scenes.
Back in July, the trades reported that neither version of Batman was included in the movie's latest cut at the behest of DC Studios' co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. Why? They didn't want to promise anything that wouldn't come to fruition in the DCU.
Today, we can tell you that that no, neither Michael Keaton nor Ben Affleck appear as Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
We still don't know exactly what this cut scene involved. It's been said it was as simple as Batman and Aquaman talking about the damage Black Manta's plan was doing to the world's oceans; another leak claimed the World's Greatest Detective was recruiting Arthur Curry for the Crisis to come.
Earlier this year, filmmaker James Wan largely dodged the question of whether either Bruce Wayne would make a cameo appearance. "The tricky thing early on was not knowing whether Aquaman would come out first or come out after [The Flash]," he said. "So, we just had to be prepared."
"At the end of the day, the best thing I would say about this movie is that it is not connected in any way to any of those films. That's the bottom line. [When asked if either Batman appears in the movie] That's a 'no comment,' right now. You're going to have to wait for the movie to come out."
Are you disappointed that Batman won't be part of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom splashes down into theaters on December 22.