Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Reveals New Look at Black Manta

The iconic Aquaman villain returns this December.

By Adam Barnhardt

The last film of the DC Extended Universe era is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the James Wan picture that will serve as the end cap to nearly a decade of storytelling. Likely featuring Jason Momoa in his last appearance as the eponymous Justice Leaguer, the film also features the return of Aquaman archnemesis Black Manta, played by Watchmen alumnus Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. In the latest edition of Empire Magazine, a new look at Mateen's character was released.

While the suit remains accurate to both the first Aquaman film and the comic book source material, the picture shows an updated design that adds some more body to the character's breath apparatus on his pack. See it for yourself below.

In the same piece, Wan said his sequel is largely inspired in part by the Harryhausen's mid-century stop-motion monsters.

"There was an element of horror in the first film. [Harryhausen monsters] became the design foundation," the filmmaker tol the magazine. "The Lost Kingdom has a very retro, '60s horror look. We have this huge action set-piece where Arthur and Orm fight [Black Manta's] henchmen, using the 'Octobot' – this mechanical squid thing. That was really fun to shoot."

Those comments slightly contradict earlier ones in which the director said the movie was an "outright buddy comedy."

"From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a Romancing The Stone-type thing – an action-adventure romantic comedy – while the second would be an outright buddy comedy," Wan explained. "I wanted to do Tango & Cash! ...Jason plays Arthur larger-than-life; Patrick plays the straight man. It's not unlike what Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones did in Men In Black – like Tommy, Patrick plays it dry, but very funny."

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters on December 25th, when an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will see the return of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin. Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play Atlan, who was previously portrayed by Graham McTavish in Aquaman. Pilou Asbaek has also joined the cast in a mystery role.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is directed by James Wan, with a script from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Producers include Wan and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.

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