Aquaman is taking pride in pulling elements of its movie straight from the pages of DC Comics, including the design for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II‘s Black Manta costume.
The first look at the costume offered up a look at the helmet, which fans immediately identified as being ripped from the pages of the comics. However, while on the set of Aquaman, ComicBook.com got a look at a photo of the costume on producer Peter Safran’s phone as it was in action just one day prior to the visit. From head to toe, Black Manta‘s Aquaman costume is a near-exact replica of the New 52’s version of the suit.
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“That thing is just badass, man,” Abdul-Matten II said. “We have our ideas about what the character’s going to be, and so I bring all of that stuff to it. But then you put that thing on, and you see yourself in the mirror, and all of a sudden, I’m 10 feet taller in that thing, and I feel like I could bust through a wall! I talked about wanting to run through walls, and just break s— in my meeting with Peter, when I auditioned for the job. And, I put on that suit, and everything’s just coming full circle.”
As it turns out, Abdul-Mateen II wanted to see the suit replicate the comics, as did the creative minds behind the film. “They kind of ask about what the themes are, what the ideas are, how are we going to mix it up,” Abdul-Mateen II said, “Because in their minds, it’s kind of difficult to pull off in a cool way. You got this guy with this really big helmet, but I think we’re doing a really good job of taking care of it, and making sure that he’s taken from the comic, but still proportional and still looks really cool, so I hope the other people want to get us out of that.”
Aquaman director James Wan takes pride in crafting unique moments and designs in his films. Black Manta, the secondary villain of this film, is no exception.
“I think like most fans I love the really sort of strange design of Black Manta, and I see this guy, and I think what we all love about him is he’s kind of scary, he’s really badass to look at it,” Wan said. “But there’s just something kind of slightly off, right? The big giant head, these big two red glowing eyes. And so I didn’t want to shy away from that. I’m going to take what’s best about the design, and kind of bring my sensibility to it. And ultimately he’s a human character, and he has to go up against someone like Arthur/Aquaman, who is a superhero. And so I have to tweak the outfit slightly to give him the power that he needs to take on to fight Aquaman. But in terms of what he looks like, he’s very much in the same spirit.”
While the suit itself is intimidating enough, Abdul-Mateen II did have to get through a bit of a workout plan to play a super villain. The transformations are not limited to a costume or physique, though.
“I went through a pretty challenging, but exciting weightlifting program, and started doing that,” Abdul-Mateen II said. “I put on about 12 pounds, which was pretty exciting, I’ve never been as heavy as I kind of am right now. I’ve jogged a little bit, but I’ve never gotten up to that size, which has been exciting. Also, the fighting. We’re working with JV and his team, and those guys are just amazing, 87Eleven. And, so we came in, and they taught me a lot of the sword stuff, and how to do some rolls, and fight choreography. And Jason [Momoa] is off the hook with that. He’s learning most of the stuff that you’ll see in this movie. He’s learning it on the day. I thought I was pretty good, but I watched him, and I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah. You have a whole career of just kicking people’s ass!’”
Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018. For more details from ComicBook.com’s visit to the film’s set, check out ComicBook.com/DC and follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!
