We all thought the information was too bizarre to be true and, apparently, it was. Back in early 2019, we discovered that sizzling on the heels of James Wan’s DC movie Aquaman making an enormous field workplace splash (get it?), Warner Bros. was creating a smaller-scale, horror spinoff primarily based on the creatures who appeared throughout its underwater trench sequence. The concept was so particular and peculiar however appeared like the proper avenue for the director of Saw, Insidious, and Malignant to make a cool superhero horror film.

Alas, the Trench film was canceled earlier this 12 months however… we now seemingly know the reality: it was by no means destined to occur. Last week, Wan posted a shot of Black Manta’s (performed by The Matrix Resurrections’ new Morpheus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) shiny helmet on his Instagram to focus on the costume and manufacturing work on the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It wasn’t till someday after that the director revealed one thing pretty surprising: the Trench film was by no means an actual factor; as a substitute, it was code for a Black Manta film. Check out the remark, which I took a screenshot of from Instagram on my cellphone.

Wan, who goes by “CreepyPuppet” on Instagram, was replying to a fan who requested if he’d do a Black Manta streaming sequence (presumably HBO Max, the place plenty of issues are occurring nowadays). Wan didn’t reply instantly, as a substitute deciding to say, “I’ll let you in on a secret, the canceled Trench spin-off movie was really going to be a secret Black Manta movie.” io9 has reached out to Warner Bros. for affirmation or clarification on this information and can replace the piece when or if that occurs.

In Aquaman, in addition to the upcoming Lost Kingdom, Manta is performed by Abdul-Mateen. The first movie noticed him as nearly a mini-boss, nothing however a pawn in Orm’s (Patrick Wilson) scheme. But within the movie’s finish credit score scene, Manta is rescued by a marine biologist who agrees to assist him defeat Aquaman in alternate for info on Atlantis. These are events that we’ll most likely see within the sequel movie or, possibly, have been going to occur on this spinoff. No matter the case, essentially the most attention-grabbing a part of this story is the necessity for Wan and Warner Bros. to, apparently, concoct a faux concept to cowl up the actual one. Was the Trench film going to turn out to be a Black Manta film in the course of it? Or was the studio going to disclose the ruse earlier than launch? We don’t know for certain. Honestly, neither makes plenty of sense nevertheless it’s actually a enjoyable and engaging “what if.”

We’ll subsequent see Abdul-Mateen in The Matrix Resurrections which opens December 22, and returning as Black Manta in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, popping out December 16, 2022.

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