Warner Bros. recently issued a press release announcing that production had begun for Aquaman. It also confirmed the movie’s cast roster, but it appears that two more actors have signed on.
Before we reveal who the first addition is, we should mention that this may be speculation. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who will play the villainous Black Manta in the December 21, 2018 release, recently tweeted a couple of photos of himself and director James Wan standing among Indigenous Elders and youths in Australia. If you look closely at the second photo, you’ll see that the man standing between Yahya and Wan is none other than Sons of Anarchy and The 100 star Michael Beach.
Grateful to the Indigenous Elders (and youth) for giving us their blessing to work on their land. ?? WELCOME TO COUNTRY! ?? RESPECT ✊? pic.twitter.com/K4DLMPUVSc
"” Yahya Abdul-Mateen 2 (@yahya) May 4, 2017
The actor's presence in the photo leads us to speculate whether he has joined the cast of Aquaman, especially because he apparently isn't involved in any other project currently shooting in that area. One might want to take into account that Beach follows the official Twitter accounts of James Wan, Jason Momoa, Dolph Lundgren, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and DC Comics. But that might not mean much, because he also follows the official accounts of Marvel Entertainment, The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stan Lee, and Robert Downey, Jr.
The fact that Beach worked with the Aquaman director on Insidious: Chapter 2 may add a little fuel to the fire. After all, Wan gave the role of Orm to Patrick Wilson, with whom he worked on Insidious and The Conjuring.
If Michael Beach has indeed landed a role in the first standalone movie for the King of the Seven Seas, the question as to what character he’ll play still remains. The role of Black Manta's father is a possibility. In The New 52 continuity, Aquaman killed Black Manta's father in retaliation for undeservedly attacking his own father. Whether a similar event might take place in the upcoming DC Extended Universe installment remains to be seen.
Movie Web recently discovered an IMDb Community Support request from the representatives of a child actor named Otis Dhanji to list his name on the Aquaman IMDb page as a 13-year-old Arthur.
The request link was quickly taken down, but the young Aussie actor has already been included on the movie’s page, and he’s also been given his own page. Otis has no other screen credits, so apparently the James Wan flick will be his feature film debut. He is expected to shoot for five days in May, and wrap his part with a single day on the set in August.
Update: Comic Book claims that Warner Bros. has confirmed that Otis Dhanji will indeed play 13-year-old Arthur Curry.
