Black Manta had a few standout action scenes in James Wan's Aquaman, but the character was a secondary villain to Patrick Wilson's Ocean Master. The end credits stinger seemingly set up Manta to play a more central role in the inevitable sequel, and that's exactly what actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II teased at Celebrity Fan Fest in San Antonio, Texas.
"Black Manta is gonna come back with some strong vengeance!," the Black Mirror actor told fans in the audience. However, he said his own personal wish would be for the character to join the Suicide Squad and team with Harley Quinn. At the time of his casting, Yahya admitted that he didn't know much about his character but it seems he's been doing some research.
"I really like Black Manta and Harley Quinn," replied Yahya when asked who he'd like to see his character teamed up with.
As Aquaman was based largely on The New 52 reboot Aquaman series from Geoff Johns, it's likely that Yahya's Black Manta research also saw him read a Suicide Squad run near the tail-end of the New 52 that saw Black Manta leading a team comprised of Harley Quinn, Reverse-Flash, and Captain Boomerang.