Posted in: Aquaman, Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Aquaman 2, movies, Warner Bros

"Aquaman 2": Black Manta's Story Reportedly "Silver Age" Inspired

The movie world is in a bit of a pickle right now with coronavirus. When it comes to DC movies the more immediate question is whether or not Wonder Woman 1984 is going to have its release date delayed but there are other movies in development that could see setbacks. Production on The Batman was shut down and a new report says that The Flash was a month or so away from starting production and who knows if that is going to happen. The other movie that we don't know much about is Aquaman 2. While the release date is a long way off, December of 2022, pre-production was supposed to start this year. Whether or not that will be impacted by coronavirus we don't know. Meanwhile, the writer of the movie David Leslie Johnson-McGoldric decided to do a Q&A on Twitter (via Heroic Hollywood) and a fan asked for some comic recommendations someone could hypothetically read if they wanted to know a little more about the sequel and specifically where they plan to take villain Black Manta.

Out of all of the pieces in Aquaman Black Manta was probably the most underdeveloped part of the move though by the end of the credits it was because he was being set up as the villain for the next movie. That's a fine way to go about things and this little hint teases something interesting. DC Comics in the silver age are notoriously silly and campy. For example, here is the kind of covers Aquaman of the silver age was putting out. Here is the cover for Aquaman #35, story by Bob Haney, art by Nick Cardy, and published in the heart of the silver age: October 1967. Incidentally, this is also the first appearance of Black Manta.

And while Aquaman was in books with covers like that what was going on inside was even more silly and more than a little bizarre.

And while the first movie was pretty campy the Black Manta stuff really wasn't. Well, aside from the silly-looking helmet. So it sounds like they aren't going to cite specific stories, this is probably a good thing since adapting specific stories doesn't seem to work well so saying that they are drawing a "vibe" from the silver age at least means that we're not getting anything close to grimdark for Aquaman 2.

Summary: Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and to be a hero to the world.

Aquaman is directed by James Wan, stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, and Willem Dafoe. Aquaman 2 currently doesn't have a director but will be released on December 16, 2022.

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