The Flash may make Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s villain story even more tragic and inescapable. Jason Momoa’s first solo adventure as Arthur Curry surpassed expectations, with the movie going on to gross $1.149 billion at the worldwide box office. That made 2018’s Aquaman become not only the highest-grossing DCEU film by a comfortable margin, with second place going to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with $872.7 million, but also the biggest win for DC at the box office ever. Based on that, it will be interesting to see if Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s story proves itself as gripping as the first film’s did.
One important aspect of that story will be impacted by the events of Ezra Miller’s The Flash movie. In The Flash, Miller’s Barry Allen goes back in time to save his mother’s life, which leads to a multiverse-wide adventure for the speedster. DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said that The Flash resets the DCEU, with the new DC Universe taking its place. If that does happen, then Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which releases six months after The Flash, could already be a part of the new DC Universe. That means The Flash will likely lead to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s villain story being even more brutal.
The Flash Can Make Black Manta’s Origin Story More Tragic
The Flash rebooting the DC Universe leads to Aquaman and Black Manta’s connection being stronger than it was in the first movie, with the two characters being “destined nemesis,” as the villain, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will be back to serve as the main antagonist of the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. With The Flash rebooting the DCEU into the new DC Universe, Aquaman and Black Manta would be rivals in two separate universes, showing the level of hatred that matchup conveys. The universe reset could also lead to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom making Black Manta’s story more tragic.
Director James Wan revealed that Aquaman 2 made changes to accommodate the DC Universe’s shifts since Gunn and Peter Safran arrived. Perhaps one of those changes will lead to Black Manta’s origin story becoming even more tragic. The first version of the character’s origin included a young Black Manta being kidnapped by pirates and becoming a slave. One day, the child saw Aquaman swim by the pirates’ ship and tried to call for help, only for the hero to not notice him, which led to Black Manta holding a lifelong grudge that he would pursue after killing his captors.
The Flash Can Make Black Manta’s DC Movies Story Even Closer To The Comics
Aquaman brought to life a version of Black Manta’s more recent origin story from DC Comics’ New 52 continuity. To follow up on that, The Flash could lead to a change in the timeline to allow Black Manta’s origin story to be closer to the comics and differentiate the DCEU and the new DC Universe. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom could reveal that the timeline changed to allow a version of the story of Black Manta being hired by a scientist to take Arthur Curry’s blood to prove he was an Atlantean to happen.
Then, it could be shown that the death of Black Manta’s father in the first film was due to the villain having accidentally killed Aquaman’s father, Tom Curry, when trying to take a sample. This would be a shocking twist, and it would help set Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom apart from the DCEU while bringing back Black Manta and Aquaman’s rivalry.
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