While the release schedules draw nearer for Aquaman 2, controversies, too, keep piling on higher surrounding its lead actors and actresses. Anyone not living under a rock knows how muddied the waters have become due to Amber Heard’s involvement with the film. Fans have even asked DC to utilize their delayed schedule to edit her out of the movie. But apparently, she’s not the only one now under the spotlight as another actor’s comments have recently gone viral.
Black Manta Actor Compares Aquaman 2 to “Clown Work”
One of Aquaman’s primary nemeses has been the Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who had already been introduced in the first movie. Having set up the antagonist’s storyline, it was implied that the Black Manta would be returning to fulfill his arch-enemy duties in the follow-up sequel film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. However, now that he’s back, instead of the usual promotional teaser for the movie, the audience is now getting a critique from one of its major actors.
Also read: Aquaman 2 Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Preparing For Black Manta
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has recently compared his DCEU film to “clown work” while referencing his 2020 film, The Trial of the Chicago 7. The latter is an ensemble historical legal drama written and directed by the visionary Aaron Sorkin. The actor commented,
“Everything should be about getting to the truth. But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in. Something like Aquaman, that’s clown work. Aquaman is not The Trial of the Chicago 7. You gotta get over yourself.”
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Stirs Up DCEU’s Pot of Controversy
In the recent few months, DC has been the center of a lot of attention due to the publicly televised court drama of Amber Heard. In addition to the mockery of the actress that had occupied the social media platforms for the major part of the year, Ezra Miller‘s escalating and endangering erratic actions had caused most people to consider boycotting the franchise as a whole.
On top of everything, David Zaslav‘s radically unilateral change across all platforms after the merger hasn’t made things easy for the comic book movie franchise. The Black Manta actor’s comments couldn’t have possibly come at a worse time as people are already wary of approaching the industry’s projects in the aftermath of all the negativity. Given the year ahead of us before Aquaman 2‘s release, there might yet be time left for scrounging up some of the film’s scattered reputation.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom premieres on 25 December 2023.
Source: Vulture
