With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom slated for 2022, its supervillain, Black Manta is strengthening himself for the big fight. Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II recently confirmed his character’s return in the Aquaman sequel.
Directed by the celebrated James Wan, Aquaman 2 will see the return of the main characters, though the confirmed cast seems a bit short for now. Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, and Temuera Morrison will reprise their roles as Arthur Curry / Aquaman, Mera, Ocean Master, and Tom Curry, respectively. In recent months, some reports suggested that Momoa’s co-star from Game of Thrones, Pilou Asbaek, popularly known as Euron Greyjoy would also join the DC cast. Other actors like Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe will also reportedly come back.
Return of Black Manta
Abdul-Mateen has already begun preps for his role before the filming for the sequel begins. He recently took it to Instagram to share his workout selfie with a jacked-up body. The caption of his post read, “BLACK MANTA Back under construction!”. Abdul confirmed his return at Celebrity Fan Fest 2019 by stating “Black Manta is gonna come back with some strong vengeance!”.
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Black Manta is a recurring Aquaman villain from the comic books whose traumatic experiences forced him to hate the sea and Aquaman. Now, with that chiselled body, Abdul’s Black Manta is coming back to wreak havoc in the sea.
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Director James Wan announced the title of the sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on Instagram. As the name suggests, the titular Lost Kingdom is one of the seven kingdoms of Atlantis. Perhaps, Arthur’s next adventure will be to navigate this kingdom and restore it.
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Amidst the rumours of Amber Heard getting fired after her case with Johnny Depp, the actress also confirmed her return as Queen Mera on Instagram. Producer Peter Safran responded to the backlash from fans by saying
“I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure. You gotta do what’s best for the movie. We felt that if it’s (director) James Wan and (star) Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was.”
