It looks like a classic Aquaman villain will oppose Jason Momoa in the stand alone feature due out in 2018….
The solo ‘Aquaman’ movie won’t be out until 2018 but it appears Jason Momoa’s foe for the film has already been determined.
According to a report on The Wrap, classic Aquaman villain Black Manta is expected to serve as the main antagonist to the oceanic hero when director James Wan gears up production in 2017 for the upcoming movie.
Black Manta has been a famous Aquaman villain ever since his first appearance back in 1967, although the character has undergone numerous changes and iterations over the years.
The original story for Black Manta was that of a young boy from Baltimore who gets kidnapped and forced to work aboard a ship where he is abused by his captors. One day he spots Aquaman in the distance and attempts to flag him down, but the hero doesn’t see him and he swims away. The boy later kills his captors and from that day forward he vows to seek vengeance against Aquaman for not saving his life when he had the chance.
The newest version of the Black Manta story — and probably the one more likely for the ‘Aquaman’ movie — Black Manta is a ruthless treasure hunter, who seeks out mystical relics from the sea and at one point he encounters Aquaman and his father while searching for a particular relic. The ensuing battle led to Aquaman’s father having a heart attack and later dying. Aquaman seeks vengeance for his father’s death, but in pursuing Black Manta, he ends up accidentally killing his father instead and the death sets off a chain reaction that leads to a blood feud between the two characters.
There was even an occasion in a more recent book that showed Amanda Waller trying to recruit Black Manta for the Suicide Squad, but he rebuffs her offer before making an escape from Belle Reve prison.
In the latest version of the character, Black Manta doesn’t have any superpowers, but he does create a suit that now only allows him to travel underwater, gives him super strength and has several technological weapons that he uses to battle Aquaman.
Black Manta serving as the villain is just the latest addition to the movie, which features Momoa in the starring role as Aquaman/Arthur Curry as well as Amber Heard playing his wife Mera and Willem Dafoe playing fellow Atlantean Vulko in the movie.
‘Aquaman’ is due out on July 27, 2018.
