The upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom uses some ideas from the canceled Black Manta spin-off movie, according to director James Wan.
Speaking to Collider, Wan mentioned that the planned Black Manta movie did have an influence on Lost Kingdom. According to Wan, while the film didn’t work out, they did come up with “a lot of really interesting ideas” that made its way into the sequel.
“We had developed the Trench movie, and ultimately, like most things, you develop — if they work out, great, if they don’t, then that’s fine as well,” Wan said. “We didn’t want that project to potentially step on the Aquaman films, but we came up with a lot of really interesting ideas and really cool stuff that I felt we could use it in this one.”
Wan went on to say that when the Trench film — which was going to be a secret Black Manta film — didn’t happen, they began using some ideas.
“And so with the Trench movie, it was going to be a secret Black Manta, right? Initially, we announced it as a Trench movie, but ultimately, we wanted to surprise the fans because that was going to be a stand-alone Black Manta movie,” said Wan. “And so when that didn’t happen, some of those ideas kind of found its way into this there.”
What is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom about?
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is once again directed by Wan from a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. The sequel features the return of Jason Momoa as he reprises the leading role of Arthur Curry/Aquaman. Joining him are returning cast members, including Patrick Wilson as Orm, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, Amber Heard as Mera, and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin.
It will also feature the introduction of new cast members in Game of Thrones alum Pilou Asbaek Indya Moore (Pose, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), Vincent Regan (300, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), and Chinese-Portuguese actress Jani Zhao (Jogo Duplo, The Sugar Captains) in her first major Hollywood film and English-language feature debut.
Aquaman 2 is produced by Wan and frequent collaborator Peter Safran. Wan previously teased that the sequel will feature a more serious and relevant story as well as some horror elements.
Based on the DC character created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger in 1941, Aquaman had earned a gross of over $1 billion at the global box office, making it one of Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing DC movie. The character made its live-action film debut in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and also later reprised the superhero role in Justice League.
