Black Manta is out for revenge in trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

[Karlston]

"I don't know what lies ahead. But we can't leave our children a world without hope."

Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson are essentially co-stars in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Warner Bros. has released the official trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the oft-delayed sequel to 2018's Aquaman, which introduced the world to Jason Momoa as the exiled heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. This time around, we find Aquaman juggling domestic duties while battling an existential threat to Atlantis in the form of an old foe bent on exacting revenge.

 

(Spoilers for 2018's Aquaman below.)

 

When it was first announced, Aquaman initially struck me as an odd choice for a superhero movie. After all, that was the role—deemed ripe for satire—that Entourage's fictional actor Vincent Chase took on, with James Cameron supposedly directing for purposes of the plot. Then early images appeared with Jason Momoa in all his Aquaman glory, and many people changed their tune. The finished film wasn't a slam dunk with critics—I enjoyed it well enough but thought the plot was an unholy mess—but you sure couldn't argue with that box office return. Aquaman grossed a whopping $1.15 billion worldwide, the highest-grossing film in the DCEU.

 

A brief refresher: Aquaman gave us the origin story of Arthur Curry (Momoa), son of Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), former queen of Atlantis and human lighthouse keeper. He grows up on land, near the sea, and when he comes of age, he's trained to use his innate gifts by his mother's most trusted advisor, Nuidis Vulka (Willem Dafoe). Arthur makes an enemy of a pirate's son named David (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who blames Arthur for his father's death.

 

Then Arthur's Atlantean half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), now king, declares war on the surface world, and Arthur must stop him. David teams up with Orm and becomes the Black Manta, thanks to the gift of an Atlantean battlesuit. Arthur saves the day, of course, and even wins over Orm's followers, thanks to acquiring the Trident of Atlan, first ruler of Atlantis. Arthur becomes king, and Orm is imprisoned for his crimes.

 

That's where we left off, but director James Wan was keen to explore the world of the seven underwater kingdoms further, and Momoa was on board as well. Wan was also keen to make Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom more of a "buddy comedy," exploring the relationship between Arthur and Orm. Per the official premise:

 

Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time, Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.

 

Momoa, Wilson, Kidman, and Abdul-Mateen II all reprise their roles from the first film. Also returning are Amber Heard as Mera, princess of Xebel and possessor of telepathic powers; Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus; and Temeura Morrison as Thomas Curry, Arthur's father. (Alas, we won't be seeing Dafoe as Vulko again.) And Randall Park is returning as Dr. Stephen Shin—he's the marine scientist who showed up in Aquaman's mid-credits scene, obsessed with conspiracy theories about Atlantis. David/Black Manta agreed to show Shin the way to Atlantis if Shin helped him take revenge on Aquaman. New cast members include Vincent Regan as Atlan, first king of Atlantis; Jan Zhao as Stingray; Indya Moore as Karshon; and Pilou Asbaek in an as-yet-unnamed role.

 

The official trailer opens with Arthur catching us up on his life via voiceover. "Four years ago, I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home," he says. "But now I'm a husband and a father. And I wouldn't have it any other way." We see him sleepily changing a diaper and helping out with the laundry just to drive the point home. But he also has a super stressful job as king of Atlantis, ruling "half a billion people from every known species in the sea [who] call this place home"—and not all of them are fans of Aquaman.

 

Enter Black Manta dramatically vowing to kill Aquaman and destroy "everything he holds dear," including murdering his family and burning his kingdom to ash. He's much stronger than he was in the first movie, having snagged a magical Black Trident and a mask that lets him shoot laser beams from his eyes. The dark magic from that trident is spreading rapidly, and Atlanna warns, "He must be stopped, or global meltdown is imminent." So Aquaman turns to his imprisoned brother Orm for help, and Orm agrees—reluctantly, sure, but we're betting the two half-brothers will bond and end up closer than ever, assuming they can save the world first.

 

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters on December 20, 2023. Along with this summer's The Flash, the film is meant to lead into 2025's Superman: Legacy. But the future of Momoa's Aquaman is uncertain after this, given new co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn's plans to reboot the DCU. Momoa might play Aquaman, or he could be recast in another role—perhaps Lobo, a DC Comics interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter. Time will tell.

 

Listing image by YouTube/Warner Bros.

 

Source