![]() Speaking of being a Yale guy, there’s a strong group of black Yale School of Drama graduates in Hollywood right now (Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett and more). And so we wanted to be sure the chemistry was tight between the two of us so once we hit the scene, we can do as much with as little time as possible. You know, we knew that we had limited real estate, detailing this really important story. ![]() We spent a lot of time in-between takes and getting to know one another and him giving me advice and that mentor-mentee relationship that we were sort of building. It was really about his experience in working on films and some of the plays that he had done and what it was like being young and being in the industry like I am and you know, he came in pretty soon after graduate school also or after his conservatory. ![]() I’m a Yale guy and that was one of our points of entry, just talking in-between the takes and talking in the gym. He’s also classically trained, he’s a Juilliard guy. I looked up Michael Beach and I knew that he was a black actor that had been around for a long time. And once I started to turn the page, then I began to be sort of an enthusiast. So once I got the job that, that was the moment that I had an interest in comic books. It was really about expanding my imagination and then I got to talk to the fans online to take their recommendations. This was presented to me as an exciting opportunity to go do something that was different and large scale. I’ve never read any of the Aquaman comic books or any comic books for that matter. They really wanted something that the fans could relate to.ĭid you read any of the Aquaman comics growing up? Did you read any to prepare for the role of Black Manta? They were courageous enough to not back away from the large helmet and a lot of the comic book elements of the costume. But really, I think that the success of the Manta costume really lies in the design team. So it means I can do the things that I can do, so I can bring the attitude to the costume. The actor’s job is maybe 30 percent of making it cool and that means that I get in my best shape so I could wear the costume. How do you make one of the most difficult-looking costumes in comics look cool? release, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Mateen to discuss how he made his goofy-looking costume look cool, his upcoming work on Jordan Peele’s Us, and why he wants to play a guy who is more down-to-earth in his next role. You will see the whole sequence and plenty more of Black Manta when Aquaman hits theaters December 21.Days before Aquaman‘s U.S. The long tracking shot of Manta hunting down Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) wowed over 6,000 fans in Hall H, but Wan assures us, “What you saw in that piece, was only half of it.” He had an even bigger part in the full Comic-Con sizzle reel, which Wan played for us again in the edit bay. “Keeping his head big, and his eyes big, was very important for me.”īlack Manta was impossible to miss in the Aquaman trailer. ![]() That was one area where practicality did not win out, nor should it have. The helmet, however, was always going to be a big part of Black Manta’s costume. We worked on him a lot at the pre-production, very early on, to try to get him right.” They can look at that, and kind of go, ‘Oh, he’s weird, but it’s practical.’ It’s somewhat of a diving suit, potentially, and stuff like that. “I know that I wanna stay true to what people are familiar with of him in the comic book,” he says, “but also for the non-fans. The key for Wan and the design team was balancing Black Manta’s comic book aesthetic with at least a bit of real-world application for the benefit of the uninitiated. “Obviously, getting it right was super important for the fans, and obviously, for myself as well, and ultimately for the people that are not familiar with him ’cause he’s a pretty strange looking guy. “Getting Black Manta right, for me, was a prime directive for me, very early on, with designing the whole look of the film,” Wan tells Superhero News and a select group of journalists inside the Aquaman edit bay. If we can accept that, then a little excess in Black Manta’s costume can be forgiven, especially when it looks so freakin’ cool. No one really needs a helmet that big, but this is a movie in which the heir to the throne of a sunken kingdom can communicate with sea life. The character may not be a known commodity for general audiences, but his costume, which has been adapted faithfully by director James Wan, is sure to capture their imagination.īlack Manta’s costume is not the most realistic design for a diving suit. One of the best character designs in the history of comics finally hits the big screen this December when Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) wreaks havoc in Aquaman. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Batman News sister site, Superhero News.
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