DCEU Made Another Big Mistake By Cancelling The Black Manta Trench Movie
The DCEU is starting to pick up the pace again after the DC FanDome 2021. It is because of all the hype that the event has created. Mostly because of the well-shot trailer that premiered during this event. Fans were intrigued by what DC has cooking. Especially because of the highly anticipated The Flash revealing its first teaser to the audience. Even Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom’s revealed images were incredibly interesting. But did you know that DCEU Made a Big Mistake By Cancelling The Black Manta Trench Movie?
It is true, there was another movie that was supposed to take place between Aquaman and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. James Wan recently revealed that after the initial release of Aquaman WB was very interested in making a horror spinoff of the series focused on The Trench. You know, the area Aquaman and Mera recover King Atlan’s Trident from. The same place where Queen Atlanta has stayed all that time. WB had even announced that they’d be doing a movie called The Trench. But there is more to this story than just a plain horror movie centered around sea monsters.
The Trench was supposed to be a critical movie for the overall lore of the DCEU. James Wan has revealed that the movie was supposed to secretly be a Black Manta movie. Not only was the movie supposed to focus on the horror side of the DCEU but WB also wanted to develop the character of Black Manta further. However, there were doubts if such a movie would work without supporting characters such as Queen Atlanta, Mera, and King Atlan. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is a brilliant actor but his solo performance was undermined by the studio and the Black Manta Trench movie was canceled.
Black Manta Trench Movie
But what was the movie supposed to be about? Well, if online sources are to be believed then it was supposed to be an exploration of Yahya’s character. Kane was supposed to be pitted against the monsters of the trench and he would eventually emerge as their leader by the end of the movie. The idea was to combine the horror genre with our love of the character and make him into something unreal. We don’t know why DC did not follow through with their plans because this could have been amazing.
It would have effectively made Kane one of the strongest people in the DCEU. The monsters of the trench gave a very hard time to both Mera and Aquaman. They barely escaped by the skin of their teeth. Moreover, the visual representation of the sea monsters was out of this world in the movie. WB achieved something with the first Aquaman that they had only previously seen with Man Of Steel. The movie pushed the lore of the DCEU and stood independently as a true origin story.
Some plot inconsistencies did exist because the movie came after Justice League, but we were all too happy to ignore them. Making a Black Manta Trench movie after the first one might have been a wise idea. It would have given Black Manta an opportunity to come into his own. We know that the character of David Kane has gone through a lot and has a lot of emotional baggage to work through. How brilliant would it have been to do that emotional processing with him in the depths of a literal sea of monsters?
Biggest Mistake of DCEU
But WB made the choice of scrapping the movie in favor of some other project. Well, mainly because it was time to start the marketing of bigger titles such as The Batman and they did not want to divert resources. Still, we wish we could have received this movie the same way we have received other DC titles. Alas! you don’t get everything you wish for. Studio gotta Studio and there ain’t much you can do.
What do you think about this entire thing? Would you have liked a Black Manta Trench Movie? Do you agree with our commentary? Does the revelation of James Wan make you more interested in the project? Could a movie like this even have worked? Let us know in the comments below and keep watching this space for everything Marvel, DC, and Hollywood. Excelsior!!!
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