Cancelled James Wan Trench movie was a secret Black Manta spin-off

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The coolest moment of 2018’s Aquaman almost led to a spin-off film, which would have secretly given us more of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta.

Opinions may be divided regarding James Wan’s 2018 Aquaman movie, but what isn’t up for debate is just how much film you get for your money. With so much happening, there are some parts of the film that despite being intriguing, were left largely explored, such as The Trench, a horror-inflected segment of the film where monsters from the deep emerged, in what was easily the film’s most shudder-inducing sequence.

For a while, it seemed like Wan would be returning to produce a spin-off film about The Trench, with the gap in his schedule following this year’s Malignant looking like the ideal space. Then, the high-ups at DC had a shake-up in the wake of Zack Snyder’s DC films being effectively cancelled, and Wan’s Trench movie was cancelled.

Now though, the director has been sharing art and props for the upcoming sequel to Aquaman, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Whilst showing off a comic book-inspired helmet for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta character, who appeared in the first film, Wan tweeted: “I’ll let you in on a secret, the canceled Trench spin-off movie was going to be a secret Black Manta movie.”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s career has certainly skyrocketed of late, with acclaimed performances in HBO’s Watchmen and the leading part in Nia DaCosta’s Candyman. If things would have gone differently, it looks like he would have been heading up his own comic book movie too. Still, at least, he’ll be returning in the Aquaman sequel, and hopefully we’ll see some more of those chilling Trench sequences in the sequel too.