When news broke that Warner Bros. was developing an Aquaman spin-off revolving around The Trench, it's fair to say we were all left scratching our heads. As great as the horror-inspired sequence featuring those monstrous creatures was, it's not as if they really needed a movie!
We'd later learn that Jason Momoa and Amber Heard were being eyed to return as Arthur Curry and Mera, though it's since been revealed the project was, in fact, secretly a Black Manta movie starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
It had been put on indefinite hold even before DC Studios was formed and is no longer happening. However, filmmaker James Wan has confirmed ideas from the spin-off have been incorporated into this December's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
"We had developed the Trench movie, and ultimately, like most things, you develop — if they work out, great, if they don't, then that's fine as well," he tells Collider. "We didn't want that project to potentially step on the Aquaman films, but we came up with a lot of really interesting ideas and really cool stuff that I felt we could use it in this one."
"And so with the Trench movie, it was going to be a secret Black Manta, right? Initially, we announced it as a Trench movie, but ultimately, we wanted to surprise the fans because that was going to be a stand-alone Black Manta movie. And so when that didn't happen, some of those ideas kind of found its way into this there."
It's a shame the movie never became a reality and a surprise considering the fact Aquaman earned more than $1.1 billion in 2018. Unfortunately, a lack of leadership at DC and Warner Bros. has seen many exciting projects fail to materialise over the years.
In the movie, having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force.
To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released on December 20.