Remember when Aquaman was a joke? “He can talk to fish!” is the cheapest punchline in comicdom, but with Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry and Amber Heard as his wife/wizard who controls water Mera, we might finally be taking him seriously. And now some more interesting casting news has dropped on James Wan’s movie.
First off, we know who’s playing the bad guy. The Hollywood Reporter revealed Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, star of Netflix’s The Get Down, has landed the role of Black Manta, the pirate and aquatic bad guy who’s tormented Aquaman for much of his oceanic career. And yes, Black Manta is actually a black man, specifically from Gloucester, MA, which should make for interesting character moments.
THR also has news that Nicole Kidman might be taking a role as Aquaman’s mother, Atlanna. A queen who ditches her kingdom, Atlanna falls in love with a lighthouse keeper and, well, we don’t have to fill in the rest. It’s particularly interesting because Aquaman, in recent years, has dealt with bigotry from both humans and Atlanteans for being neither fully one nor the other. That’s some tricky turf, and the movie may not explore it, but it would be a nice touch if it did so.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
