James Wan’s Aquaman casts Black Manta and Queen Atlanna

By Kevin Fraser

Posted 9 years ago

Many of the upcoming films in the DCEU have had their fair share of issues, including multiple director’s exiting (the latest being Ben Affleck stepping down as director of the standalone Batman film), so it’s a relief that AQUAMAN has managed to keep its core creative team intact. With production due to kick off in Australia this April, James Wan is continuing to fill out the AQUAMAN cast.

Per THR, Warner Bros. and James Wan are in early talks with both Nicole Kidman and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to take on roles in the film, with Kidman being offered the part of Aquaman’s mother, Atlanna, and Abdul-Mateen II up for Black Manta. It was long rumoured that Black Manta would appear in AQUAMAN, but once Patrick Wilson was cast as Orm a.k.a. Ocean Master, it seemed that the villain role had been filled. With the casting of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a relative newcomer who is best known for Netflix’s The Get Down, as Black Manta, it certainly seems that Aquaman (Jason Momoa) will have his hands full. James Wan and the studio have been meeting with a variety of actors to play Black Manta for the past several weeks, and the official offer went out to Abdul-Mateen II just yesterday. As for Nicole Kidman, she’s long been a favourite of James of Wan’s to play the role of Atlanna, the former Queen of Atlantis as well as Aquaman’s mother, and the studio seems optimistic that a deal will be reached with both actors.

About the Author

Kevin Fraser

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Favorite Movies: Alien, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, read more Braveheart, The Bridge on the River Kwai, City of God, Cloud Atlas, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Edge, The Fifth Element, Galaxy Quest, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Godfather Parts I & II, Goodfellas, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Magnificent Seven, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Prestige, Prisoners, Psycho, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rear Window, The Shining, Sorcerer, The Talented Mr. Ripley, There Will be Blood, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Zodiac

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