In the years since the release of Aquaman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has seen his star rise considerably. With major roles in The Matrix 4 as well as George Miller’s Mad Max prequel Furiosa, the actor is poised to rise even higher, and he has recently reprised his role of Black Manta/David Kane in Aquaman 2. Thankfully, he’ll have a bigger role this time around.
While speaking with THR, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II teased that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will give Black Manta more time to shine.
I think the script is better than it was in the first one. It gives the actors a lot of good storytelling moments. In Aquaman, we just got a small introduction to Black Manta and to some of his motivations. In this one, I get to exercise and breathe a little bit more. I’m showing some different colors with this one.
As I mentioned above, production on Aquaman 2 is currently underway in London under the direction of James Wan, who credits screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick with finding a “really cool story” to bring Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), Orm (Patrick Wilson), Mera (Amber Heard), and Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) back for another adventure. Wan went on to tease that he felt the first Aquaman only scratched the surface of the various underwater kingdoms, so you can expect the sequel to expand on that world in a big way. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to hit theaters on December 16, 2022. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will next be seen starring in Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, which is set to hit theaters on August 27th.