What You Need To Know About Black Manta, Aquaman’s Archenemy
The Wrap
Aquaman has his foe for his own standalone film in 2018.
TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzales reported Tuesday that in the “Aquaman” film, after he makes his debut in “Justice League” next year, the King of the Seven Seas will do battle with his archenemy Black Manta.
First introduced in “Aquaman” issue #35 in 1967, Black Manta is the natural choice of opponent for the standalone “Aquaman” film — this villain is to Aquaman essentially as Green Goblin is to Spider-Man. Manta and Aquaman are personal enemies. Interestingly, Manta’s real name is not known.
In every version of Black Manta’s origin — there are at least three distinct versions of the story of his beginnings — his feud with Aquaman began early in his life.
In the first version, Black Manta is a kid from Baltimore who is kidnapped and forced into service on a ship while being constantly abused by his captors. This broke him, turning him violent and causing him to resent the sea and by extension Aquaman as its chief representative — even though Aquaman had nothing to do with his capture or abuse.
In Black Manta’s second origin, he begins as an autistic child who is locked away in Arkham Asylum. At Arkham, he’s treated badly and experimented upon. While the Arkham doctors do manage to cure Black Manta’s autism, their treatments have a side effect that’s much worse than the condition they fixed. Manta became violent, killed his primary doctor and escaped the Asylum, latching onto Aquaman as a symbol — the young Black Manta became obsessed with him after seeing him on TV.
The most recent version of Manta’s origin came after DC’s “New 52” continuity reboot in 2011, and this is also where Manta’s tie to Aquaman became really personal.
In this version, the young Black Manta was a treasure hunter, living with his father on their family boat. Manta decides to search for the famed Merman of Amnesty Bay, hoping to collect the bounty for its capture. But he’s overzealous in his search, and accidentally kills the operator of a local lighthouse.
The Merman is, of course, Aquaman himself. In retaliation for the murder, Aquaman tracks Manta back to his family boat and kills Manta’s father, thinking he was the murderer. Swearing revenge, the young killer become Black Manta.
Black Manta is not, in most incarnations of the character, a metahuman — meaning he doesn’t inherently have any special powers. He’s a skilled fighter and swimmer, though, and he crafts a suit that levels the playing field with Aquaman a bit.
The Black Manta suit gives him massive strength — like “lifting a car over his head” kind of strength — and enables him to survive the pressures of the deep ocean. It’s bulletproof, allows him to breathe underwater, and features a jetpack that works underwater and in the air.
And, of course, he’s got weapons — primarily blades and a trident, like the one Aquaman himself wields. The suit also can jam Aquaman’s telepathic abilities, preventing him from being able to communicate with ocean life. In addition to the jetpack, Black Manta can navigate the sea with his manta-shaped submarine.
The signature tool in his arsenal is his distinctive bug-eyed helmet, which fires powerful beams from the eye sockets.
Which of Black Manta’s origins will be used for the “Aquaman” film remain under wraps, but the New 52 origin is more likely than the others because much of the material from the DC Extended Universe thus far has been loosely based on New 52 versions of things — Cyborg’s origin, for example, will be the New 52 version.
For now, all we know about Black Manta is that he’ll be the villain of the film. Given the personal nature of their animosity, particularly in the New 52 origin of Black Manta, there’s a good chance he’ll be around for more than one film. But that’s just speculation at this point.
Every DC Comics Movie Ranked From Worst to Best, Including 'Suicide Squad' (Photos)
The DC Comics universe hasn't flooded the big screen the way Marvel ones have, but the DC brand has been hitting the big screen longer in the modern era. We ranked all those modern flicks, from "Superman: The Movie" to "Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition."
29. "Jonah Hex" (2010)
Despite the efforts of Josh Brolin and Michael Fassbender, this is one of the worst comic book movies of the modern era.
28. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987)
Christopher Reeve is by far the best Superman. But "Superman IV" is a bomb in every sense -- partly because of its heavy-handedness about bombs. Nuclear bombs. The film finds Superman trying to eliminate the world's nuclear threat, but his best intentions run afoul of a silly, badly dated villain named Nuclear Man.
27. "Supergirl" (1984)
We had a female-superhero movie in 1984, and it was pure cheese. But hey, at least they tried. The best thing I can say about it is there are worse things in life than this movie.
26. "Suicide Squad" (2016)
Less a movie than it is a fever dream of unrelated sequences and montages that somehow end up using more than two hours of your time. Totally incomprehensible experience.
25. "Steel" (1997)
Best known as "the one Shaq was in back when he tried acting," "Steel" is pretty bad. But the fun kind of bad.
24. "Man of Steel" (2013)
Could have been worse, I guess. But it's still morally gross and has a plot that doesn't make sense. That it's very pretty to look at doesn't override those things nearly enough to make it watchable.
23. "Catwoman" (2004)
Thoroughly horrible, but the fun kind. Sad that it's seemingly been swept into the litter box of history.
22. "Batman & Robin" (1997)
Rightly hated, but it's tremendously entertaining here and there. Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are going so far over the top I can't help but admire them.
21. "Superman III" (1983)
Featured a brilliant corporate rip-off -- one later referenced in "Office Space" -- but the attempt to funny things up with the addition of Richard Pryor didn't gel. There was also a weird bit about a weather satellite creating bad weather, which isn't what weather satellites do. Seeing Clark Kent fight Superman was pretty cool, though.
20. "Green Lantern" (2011)
Overreliance on cartoony visual effects during a period when big blockbusters were moving away from that aesthetic meant this was a movie nobody liked. Not that it was especially horrible. It just looked like a dumb cartoon and is hard to watch.
19. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
Probably wasn't intended to be a grim and gritty Shumacher Batmovie, but that is indeed what it is. This is Nolan going full Hollywood, smashing plot points into place by sheer force of will rather than because they make sense. An extremely theatrical Tom Hardy as Bane is amusing front to back, and a nuke with a countdown clock on it will never get old.
18. "Watchmen" (2009)
I have no particular affection for the revered "Watchmen" comic the way a lot of other nerds do, so my distaste for this adaptation isn't personal. It just doesn't add up to nearly as much as it thinks it does.
17. "Batman" (1989)
Fondly remembered mostly because it was the first Batmovie in a couple decades. It isn't actually very good, though. The reveal that a younger version of the Joker killed Bruce Wayne's parents is as hamfistedly dumb as it gets in a "Batman" movie.
16. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)
A total mess that hates Superman and turns Batman into a total maniac. None of those things are good. Ben Affleck can't save the thing, but he's excellent nonetheless and gives it a huge bump it probably doesn't deserve.
15. "V for Vendetta" (2006)
Felt nothing watching this. I tried, OK. It's impeccably made, though, and very watchable.
Should be way shorter, but Heath Ledger's Joker is far and away the best villain in any of these movies. Ledger elevates what would otherwise be just another self-indulgent Christopher Nolan exercise into an endlessly watchable picture.
12. "Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition" (2016)
Giving this its own slot because it fundamentally changes the narrative of the movie and the character of Superman in the DC Extended Universe. This version is still not great (especially at three freaking hours), but it's a monumental improvement over the theatrical version.
11. "Red 2" (2013)
Did you even know these were comic book movies? Whatever, it's a great cast in a serviceable action movie and everybody's having a good time. Hard to remember, but fun.
10. "Red" (2010)
Better than its sequel, but they're basically the same.
9. "Batman Forever" (1995)
Hits just the right tone for what Joel Shumacher was trying to do with the two films he directed. Tommy Lee Jones, as Two Face, is doing stuff in this movie that is hard to believe even today, given his perpetual sour face in nearly every other movie he's been in.
8. "Superman Returns" (2006)
Actually a pretty decent attempt by Bryan Singer to do a Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie in the present day, but Brandon Routh couldn't pull off the charisma it takes to be the Man of Steel. It was his first movie, so that's not surprising. But it's a shame, because Routh has gotten much better in the years since.
7. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)
Remember that time they released a "Batman" cartoon theatrically? It gets lost amongst all the live-action ones, but "Mask of the Phantasm" is better than most of them.
6. "Superman II" (1980)
Made kids everywhere cry as they watched Superman give up his powers for a normal life with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). There are different edits of this movie, and we frankly can't keep them straight. But the sight of a powerless Clark getting beat up in a diner made Superman as sympathetic as he's ever been.
5. "Batman Begins" (2005)
The most complete film, on its own, in the entire live-action franchise. It's just, like, a regular movie... except it's about Batman. It has actual characters and everything, and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne even has emotions. It's weird.
4. "Batman Returns" (1992)
One of the best of the franchise because it's really just a political thriller. The Penguin emerges from the sewer and runs for mayor of Gotham! It's great stuff, especially as we continue to watch the rise of Trump in our world.
3. "Superman: The Movie" (1978)
This is the gold standard of Superman movies, and was the best superhero movie bar none for many, many years. John Williams' score soars, and so does the believable and compelling romance between Superman and Lois Lane. The film convincingly blended camp (in the form of Gene Hackman's wonderful Lex Luthor), an epic origin story that actually felt epic, and funny lines. The scene in which Supes and Lois fly together is one of the most beautiful metaphors for new love ever captured on film.
2. "Constantine" (2005)
A happy balance of serious and ridiculous, manages to find exactly the right tone for this weird religious fantasy and a cast led by Keanu Reeves. They all seem to get it.
1. "Batman: The Movie" (1966)
Has a timelessness that none of the other films do, and it's just a delight from beginning to end thanks to Adam West's winking Batman and the coalition of villains who can't stop cackling maniacally. Watching it again recently, I found it functions almost perfectly as a parody of the super-serious Christopher Nolan Batfilms, which is incredible.
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Where does the critically reviled supervillain mashup fare in our rankings?
The DC Comics universe hasn't flooded the big screen the way Marvel ones have, but the DC brand has been hitting the big screen longer in the modern era. We ranked all those modern flicks, from "Superman: The Movie" to "Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition."
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