‘Injustice 2’: Black Manta In-Game First Look Revealed

We’re going to get our real first look at Injustice 2 Black Manta gameplay soon, but why wait?

NetherRealm Studios creative director Ed Boon tweeted out an in-game image of Black Manta going toe-to-toe with Swamp Thing earlier today. Check it out:

First of all, before we say anything about Black Manta, can we please appreciate Swamp Thing’s reaction to getting shot in the foot with a laser right now? He literally looks like a character from a cartoon skit, dancing to avoid the bullets raining down at their feet. Dance, Swamp Thing, dance!

As for Black Manta, his suit is looking pretty on point. We didn’t get to see any of his moves or abilities in the Fighter Pack 2 reveal trailer, but he did shoot some rockets out of shoulder-mounted launchers. Whether those will be usable in-game or reserved for his ultimate is unknown, but we have a feeling that we could be seeing another zoning character to rival Deadshot here.

I say this because we only have three clues so far that might indicate what kind of fighter Black Manta will be. Most imminently we have this laser beam which can be projected from Black Manta’s helmet. While we see this shooting down at an angle, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an alternate input that shoots the beam at a different, higher angle. Then we have the rocket launchers from the reveal trailer. Finally, at the end of the Fighter Pack 2 trailer, we see Black Manta step into the frame holding a long rifle.

Rockets, lasers, and bullets. Sounds like Black Manta will only resort to using a trident or dual blades as a kind of last resort, because every mode of offense we’ve seen featured so far have been things used at a distance. Could we be seeing a new tournament favorite? We’ll find out on Sunday when the official gameplay video drops, so stay tuned!