Fans became tremendously excited last month when word leaked that Black Manta would be featured as the primary villain of director James Wan's upcoming Aquaman movie. If you were hoping to see actor Michael K. Williams play the role, however, we have some bad news. While recent rumors have pointed to Williams as the actor in line for the gig, the blockbuster's director has shot down those stories personally.
As a regular Twitter user, James Wan is pretty accessible to fans, and while many filmmakers refuse to comment on rumors in social media, Wan has been very upfront about the possibility of seeing Michael K. Williams as Black Manta in Aquaman. Linking to another Tweet reporting the rumor, a fan asked Wan about the legitimacy of the story, and Wan dismissed it with three short words and two pieces of punctuation:
Before you start debating about whether or not it was cool for James Wan to do this, he did follow up shortly after with another Tweet on the subject. The director was asked by another fan about the possibility of making the Aquaman rumor become real, and while Wan didn't speak directly to that idea, he did take the opportunity to show reverence to Michael K. Williams as a performer:
While it sounds like the chances of seeing Michael K. Williams as Black Manta in Aquaman seem quite slim, it's not terribly hard to understand why fans might want to see him in the villainous part. As James Wan points out, Williams is a tremendous actor -- earning incredible acclaim for his parts in the HBO series The Wire and Boardwalk Empire - and he also shares a distinguishing feature with the legendary DC Comics villain: a long scar on his face (albeit Black Manta has three, courtesy of Aquaman's trident).
If it's not going to be Michael K. Williams, who do you think James Wan and the folks at DC Comics/Warner Bros. should hire to play Black Manta in Aquaman opposite Jason Momoa? Or do you think that they're making a major mistake, and should hire Williams immediately? Hit the comments section below with your feelings and thoughts on the matter, and stay tuned for the latest updates on the blockbuster's development.
