Aquaman Kills Black Manta’s Father (Comics Version)

Today we revisit the story of the source of Black Manta’s source of hatred for Aquaman in the comics. Here’s how Aquaman kills Black Manta’s father.

Major spoilers for both the movie and the comics.

Ok, so if you haven’t seen Aquaman, turn back as we’re discussing big plots from the movie and for the subsequent Aquaman 2 film.

Related: Aquaman movie review

Movie version: the short version from the movie was Arthur fighting Manta’s dad and him after the takeover a Russian sub. The sub sinks while Manta’s dad was pinned down by a torpedo. Arthur Curry leaves the two behind. Manta’s father forces his son to evacuate the sub before they both perish.

This leads to the end credit scene.

Comics version:

In the comics, the story is richer and we have pages upon pages of exposition which ultimately reveals how Aquaman kills Black Manta’s father.

In the second story arc called “The Others” featuring Aquaman and the first superteam he was leading, we find Black Manta collecting Arthur’s former associates. Trying to outwit Manta, Aquaman and Mera seek the aid of Stephen Shin, a man who they worked with back when Arthur was younger. Him and Tom Curry however had a falling out when Shin tried to go public with Arthur’s identity.

This gets slowly revealed to Mera while Aquaman was on a mission to stop Black Manta.

Because he was desparate, he worked with a group of treasure hunters who tried to kidnap Arthur.

Again, this may be something that could be explored in Aquaman 2, with Black Manta now working with Shin by the end of the first movie.

After this revelation, readers get an actual flashback to the time Aquaman kills Black Manta’s father, and as a bonus, this hapoens while the two are having one of their best fights in the entire Geoff Johns run.

We see Aquaman catching up with Manta’s boat, so angry and ready to kill for what the death of his dad.

The Death of Tom Curry

Aquaman was so blind with rage over his fathers death that he didnt even check to see who he was murdering.

Aquaman murders Black Manta’s dad

Just like Batman and Joker, the two have one-upped each other over the years. Manta has caused a lot of suffering for Arthur while Arthur pulled a Game of Thrones and helped groom Manta’s son as the new Aqualad.

So there you go. Which version of the story do you prefer? Are you ready to see this for Aquaman 2? Because thats totally what they were going for.