Back in 2018, James Wan's Aquaman made a big splash (pun intended) at the box office. In early 2019, we learned about Warner Brothers' plan to develop a smaller-scale horror spinoff based on the creatures that appeared during the underwater trench sequence of that movie. Which seemed weird, sure, but also made sense as a next step in superhero films for the director of movies like Saw, Insidious, and Malignant. 

The Trench movie was canceled earlier this year - but, as it turns out, we now know the truth! It was nothing more than a ruse in order to disguise the actual project: a Black Manta movie.  If you enjoyed that particular villain as much as I did, then this news should interest you as much as it interests me.

Last week, Wan (whose online handle is creepypuppet) posted a shot of Black Manta's shiny helmet on Instagram to highlight the costume and production work on the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Which, sure, okay, again - no news here. But then, the director went on to reveal something that blindsided the fandom: the Trench movie was never a real thing, but instead just code for a Black Manta movie. You can see the actual comment from Instagram below.

Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Manteen II, is one of Aquaman's primary antagonists in both the comics and now also on the silver screen. In the first film, Black Manta was little more than a pawn in Orm's big scheme, but it seems that both Wan and the WB have bigger plans for him. He's slated to appear in the sequel film, and now it seems like we can lament the fact that a spinoff we never even knew was going to happen is already canceled. Bummer.

Were you a fan of the Aquaman movie and are you looking forward to the sequel? Share with me!