Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s trailer has teased that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta will be an even bigger threat in the upcoming movie. The villain is out for revenge over Arthur leaving his father to die in the original movie, and with the help of the Black Trident, Aquaman’s ultimate foe will be sure to make Arthur’s life difficult. Arthur is married to Amber Heard’s Mera and a father to the young Arthur Curry Jr. in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Based on the timing of the Aqua𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦’s debut coinciding with Black Manta’s power upgrade and the villain claiming in the movie’s trailer that he will 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 the hero’s family, Arthur’s son could be in for a tragic fate. With Willem Dafoe’s Vulko not returning for the sequel, the character could be revealed as an off-screen death to propel Black Manta’s revenge story forward.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will focus on an adventure that sees Aquaman and Patrick Wilson’s Orm reluctantly band together to stop Black Manta. As the film’s trailer has shown, the dynamic between the brothers will bring a lot of comedic moments to the DCEU film. There have been many controversies regarding the status of Heard’s Mera in the movie, with the character reportedly having scenes cut from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. As Mera was very important to the original film, it stands to be seen if Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can make up for the character’s reduced role.