The Get Down’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Cast As Villain Black Manta In ‘Aquaman’Posted by Wilson Morales
January 31, 2017
Source: Variety
Variety is reporting that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, best known for his role as Cadillac on the Netflix series “The Get Down,” has been tapped to play the villain Black Manta in “Aquaman,” starring Jason Momoa.
The title character would be caught between a surface world constantly ravaging the sea and the undersea Atlanteans, who are ready to lash out in revolt. Aquaman is based on the DC Comics character who’s the king of Atlantis, a half-human and half-Atlantean named Arthur Curry. He was first introduced in the early 1940s.
Black Manta was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy in “Aquaman” #35 in 1967, and though the character fought the King of Atlantis for decades, it wasn’t until the 1990s that he was finally given an origin, which has changed over the years since. Originally Black Manta was a child abused by a ship’s crew that he was a member of, seeking revenge against Aquaman as an incarnate of the sea, but recent iterations of the character have seen him blaming Aquaman for his father’s death and seeking to kill the hero for revenge.
Directed by James Wan, Abdul-Mateen II also joins Amber Heard, who will play Aquaman’s wife Mera and Patrick Wilson playing his half-brother Orm, and Willem Dafoe set to play advisor Vulko.
Peter Safran is producing the film with Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, and Rob Cowan on board as executive producers.
Abdul-Mateen will next be seen in “Baywatch” opposite Dwayne Johnson.
Aquaman hits theaters on October 5, 2018.
