New Aquaman Photos Highlight Dolph Lundgren's King Nereus, Black Manta

While Aquaman as a comic book character has frequently been the butt of jokes, the early word regarding the new Aquaman movie has been overwhelmingly positive. It looks like DC may have another big hit on their hands, and as we wait the remaining three weeks to see just how good the movie is, a bunch of new images have been released that show off several of the film's characters, including Dolph Lundgren's King Nereus and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta. Check out the DC villain in the image below.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta in Aquaman

Black Manta is one of several villains who will be making an appearance in the new film. While we've seen the character in trailers, it's not entirely clear exactly how Black Manta will fit into the overall story. The trailers have focused on the conflict between Arthur Curry and his half-brother over the throne of Atlantis as the primary conflict of the plot.

Being one of the more popular Aquaman villains, Black Manta could potentially have been the primary antagonist of his own movie. However, it at least seems that the plan is for him to be a secondary issue for Aquaman, though we'll have to wait and see exactly how it all plays out.

Another character that could very well be a villain of the film, but apparently is not is Dolph Lundgren's character of King Nereus. Check him out below.

Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus in Aquaman

In the comics, King Nereus is portrayed as a villain, and so many assumed that would be the case when it was reported Dolph Lundgren would be taking on the role in the film. However, director James Wan has said that's "not quite" the case. If Nereus isn't quite a villain, then he probably isn't exactly an ally either or at least not a willing one.

These are only a couple of the images that have been released by Warner Bros. ahead of the Aquaman release. The rest (via Collider) include, of course, various shots of Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, as well as Amber Heard as Mera. We also see several images of Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko.

Of course, in the end, a bunch of still images really aren't going to give us the best idea of just what we're in for when it comes to Aquaman. We do have something of an idea of what we're getting when it comes to Jason Momoa as we met Aquaman in Justice League. We also briefly met Amber Heard as Mera but now Aquaman has to carry his own movie.

However, the early word of mouth is that Aquaman actually works out really well. The critics that have seen the movie so far seem to have an overwhelmingly positive reaction, although official reviews have yet to be published, so we'll have to wait and see what the detailed word is. Aquaman hits theaters December 21.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.