Black Manta (DC Extended Universe)


 *  NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Black Manta from the DC Extended Universe film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Black Manta. 

"I waited a long time for this."

- Black Manta first meeting Aquaman. "His death shall be my reward."

- Black Manta sets his sight on Aquaman. "You’re the reason why my father did drown. All I wanted was mercy, but no, you left me alone there.. making me see the death of the man that I loved most! You’re going to die, Arthur... And blood is going to be all around."

- Black Manta expressing his hatred to Aquaman.

David Kane, also known as Black Manta, is the secondary antagonist of the 2018 epic superhero film Aquaman. He will possibly appear in the sequel, Aquaman 2, and future movies of the DC Extended Universe, playing a more major role. He is a ruthless treasure hunter and a high-seas mercenary with a flair for creating deadly technological innovations who came into conflict with Aquaman.

He was portrayed by, who also portrayed Clarence "Cadillac" Caldwell in The Get Down.

Biography
David Kane was a pirate just like his father, Jesse Kane who helped him steal a military stealth sub. At some point, they were hired by King Orm Marius to take over a Russian nuclear submarine in order to help unite the kingdoms of Atlantis and declare war on the surface world, but they are foiled by Aquaman. After a brief battle, Aquaman deflects a rocket from Jesse, that caused a torpedo to topple over, trapping him as the submarine became flooded. David begged Aquaman for help but was told that they kill innocents and should not expect mercy from the ocean. David was forced to flee and started to bear a deep grudge against Aquaman.

David later targets Atlantis at the behest of Orm, who uses the attack as an excuse to declare war on the surface, which he was eventually paid for, but David instead he wants weapons in order to kill Aquaman. Orm later provides David with a high-tech prototype suit of Atlantean armor and plasma rifle, which David uses and modifies them into a high-tech suit. Using this suit and a squad of elite Men-of-War soldiers.

Now calling himself "Black Manta", Manta confronts Arthur and Mera in Sicily, Italy, with Murk and elite Men-of-War soldiers. Manta mostly manages to match and even dominate Arthur as Arthur not only has to contend with his new-found Atlantean weapons and superhuman armor but also has to protect the civilians. However, in the end, Manta was ultimately overpowered by Arthur's combat prowess and own tremendous superhuman physical abilities, as he was slammed away several feet with enough force to damage his jetpack after just having been stabbed by Black Manta's Atlantean blades and Aquaman proceeded to throw a pair of chained balls at him, successfully heavily damaging his armor by the reflection of his blast and the subsequent fall. Manta is rescued by Dr. Stephen Shin, a scientist obsessed with finding Atlantis, and agrees to lead Shin there in exchange for his help in his revenge on Aquaman.

Family

 * Manta † - Grandfather
 * Jesse Kane † - Father

Allies

 * Ocean Master - Employer and Benefactor
 * Men-of-War
 * Murk
 * Stephen Shin - Savior

Enemies

 * Aquaman - Archnemesis, Attempted Killer, and Attempted Victim
 * Mera

Trivia

 * Black Manta may return in the sequel, as the main antagonist.
 * In the comics, Black Manta was the primary archenemy to Aquaman and a member of Lex Luthor's supervillain teams.