Where will we find our answers?
Honestly, though I haven't seen it yet, I already feel like having The Trench, Ocean Master, and Black Manta in a movie is cluttered enough.
Grimm, and maybe the dead king!
Dead King seems to be in it, yeah. Is it Lundgren playing him? If the movie's 3 hours long maybe it'll work.
I have a feeling Black Manta will continue to be a returning antagonist, like Loki in the MCU.
Now I'm no film expert, but I would personally really like a hero arc for Aquaman. Orm can be the first main antagonist, Black Manta is the main antagonist in the second movie. Reveal that Mera is pregnant in the second movie. Build him up, build up Atlantis's relations with the surface, build up his pride, make him feel safe, like nobody can touch him. And then the third movie just hits you right in the gut! Wham! Starts off with his son being murdered. (Grimm, who should murder his son? Maybe Manta, I'm not sure.)
And now we're introduced to Corum Rath. I'd like to see The Deluge work as some HYDRA (from The Winter Soldier) type force, having infiltrated Atlantis's for a decade. They aren't a terrorist cell- they're a shadow government. Corruption is everywhere. Rath sees this as the perfect time to begin The Deluge's true operation. In a matter of days, everything has been taken from him. His throne, his relation with the surface, his child, and his wife. Now I do NOT want to kill Mera, but maybe just put her in some comatose state. And now we launch into the Underworld arc- vigilante Aquaman! Rath has trapped his people in Atlantis. Arthur gathers a resistance, a rebellion. He fights his way to the top and overthrows Rath, but not without a steep price. Atlantis is weaker than it's ever been. His once great kingdom is nigh-in ruin. This would lead into an angry Peter David characterization of Aquaman.
(Please don't delete this because it's a little off-topic.)
Manta drowns Arthur, Jr. by putting him in a dome devoid of water during Death of a Prince. Later, he regrets it, as he becomes known as "the man who kills babies," and not for his fighting prowess or cunning.
Yes, I know that Manta kills Arthur's child, but I wasn't sure if he should be the one to commit the murder if he's (in my headcanon) going to be the main antagonist of the second movie.
^ that would be the worst post credit scene ever.
Get Jesse Eisenberg out. We need a new dynamic Lex Luthor.