Aquaman Hype Machine Offers First Look At Black Manta
by Erik Amaya
All week, the coordinated Warner Bros. Pictures publicity machine has been leading up to the start of promotion for its December release of Aquaman. Today, the waters have parted and Entertainment Weekly has a number of first look photos from the film, including Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as mercenary David Kane — also known as Black Manta.
According to director James Wan, Black Manta is a “full-time pirate who in his suit will look like some crazy alien from outer space.” The look, of course, matches up with his classic comic book design. But Black Manta is not Aquaman’s (Jason Momoa) primary antagonist this time around as the film will put him against his own brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), for control of Atlantis. Wan told the site Manta “somehow factored” into the tale. If Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) Justice League plan to build a group of his own remains part of the DC Films universe going forward, keeping Manta back as a secondary antagonist makes a lot of sense. He was a member of the Superfriend‘s Legion of Doom after all.
Aquaman opens on December 21st.