So up until Justice League last year, Aquaman was more of a background character than the main event. Apart from a die-hard cult following, the likes of Batman and Superman have the popular vote. It’s a testament to how brilliantly Jason Momoa portrayed the aquatic hero that fans will be lining up outside theatres when the hunky Hawaiian brings the titular character to the big screen in December.
Pre-Comic Con hype
Comic Con San Diego this year will seem rather threadbare in comparison to previous editions, especially since Marvel will not be making an appearance. And while George R R Martin will be in attendance, it won’t be to discuss anything Game of Thrones-related as he’ll be sitting on the panel to discuss the television adaptation of his novella Nightflyers. Go Martin.
This would be the perfect opportunity for DC and Aquaman to steal the limelight. Director James Wan has already unveiled a brand new logo and announced on his Twitter feed that the film’s official trailer will be debuting at the event. In case you missed it, the logo is looking pretty sharp (let’s hope it slices right through those DC haters!).
Momoa’s a go, but what about the rest?
Of course, the baddest merman West of Atlantis will take centre stage for the film, but at Comic Con, we will get to know the rest of his posse.
So far, we know the evergreen Nicole Kidman will be joining Momoa, taking up the role as Queen Atlanna and Willem Dafoe, whom you might know as the Green Goblin in the pre-Tom Holland Spiderman films, will come on board as Atlantis’ chief scientific advisor, Nuidis Vulko (seriously, between Oscorp and this, does the guy ever get tired of his experiments?).
But arguably one of the most interesting characters in the up-and-coming feature would have to be Black Manta. If you haven’t already checked out my rant about racial disparity in comic book films, you can catch up here, because this is essentially part two.
Black Manta: DC’s response to Black Panther?
Ahead of Comic Con, James Wan has given us a layman’s description of Manta, saying he is “part mercenary but full-time pirate who, in his suit, will look like some crazy alien from outer space.”
With Patrick Wilson’s Orm set to be the central villain in the film, it stands to reason that Black Manta will have a bit-part role to play, which leads one to wonder whether this was another bit of social commentary forced into a film just for representation’s sake.
According to DC’s official website, Black Manta was indeed a mercenary-pirate who was somewhat responsible for the death of Aquaman’s father, after he was assigned to collect Aquaman’s blood and locked horns with Aquaman Sr. If previous films are anything to go by, vengeance makes for excellent conflict (but no Marthas again, please!), and if this is the case, then surely Black Manta should play a bigger role in the film?
Maybe we’re jumping the gun here, but if this is DC’s response to the Black Panther (Manta, Panther), then they’d better serve this one up on a golden platter, because if they’re going to come anywhere near Marvel and their Wakandan king, it’s going to have to be gargantuan. Otherwise it will just look like they wanted to include a black character for the sake of it (and seriously, do they have to call him Black Manta? Why can’t he just be Manta?).
