New photos from the floor of San Diego Comic-Con 2018 offer the first glimpse of the completed costumes of Mera and Black Manta from the upcoming Aquaman movie. Although previous photos from the set have offered fans a glimpse of Black Manta's helmet, the full costume for Aquaman's most famous enemy had not yet been revealed and has yet to appear in the so-called DC Extended Universe. By contrast, Mera - a warrior princess with the power to move water with her mind - had a brief cameo fighting alongside Aquaman in the Justice League movie.
This grand reveal of the final costumes for the film followed an unveiling earlier in the day of a series of statues of Mera and Black Manta. The statues were said to be modeled on the costumes worn by Amber Heard and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the movie. Until now, these statues offered the most in-depth look of the costume designs for Arthur Curry's arch-nemesis and the woman destined to become the love of his life.
Related: Aquaman Movie Figure Reveals First Look At Classic Comic Costume & Trident
The photos of the Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Mera (Amber Heard) costumes, as taken by Screen Rant's Sarah Moran, can be viewed below. The Black Manta costume was posed dramatically in a combat stance, perched atop one of the display cases showing some of the action figures based on the movie. Mera's costume was more regally showcased upon a mannequin under glass.
Update: Rob Keyes took some more photos of Mera and Arthur Curry's costumes from the DC booth. See below.
The differences between Mera's costume here and in Justice League are stark, with Mera's costume for Aquaman sporting a less armored appearance. Gone are the spiked shoulder-pads and ridged corset, replaced by a tunic and trousers made of some sort of scale-mail. There is also a golden buckle which resembles the stylized A-shape usually worn by Aquaman in the comics. Overall this costume more closely resembles what Mera usually wears in the comic books than her armor from Justice League.
As for Black Manta, his costume is pitch-perfect. From the glowing red eyes of the rounded helmet to the blue-black sheen of his armored wet-suit, everything about this costume has been translated perfectly from the classic Aquaman comic books. One can almost hear Black Manta's distorted metallic voice from the Super Friends cartoons just looking at him.
All in all, these costumes justify the faith that fans have placed in director James Wan and his production team staying true to the aesthetics of the original comics. It remains to be seen what sunken treasures from the world of Atlantis the rest of Comic-Con weekend will reveal. It seems a safe bet at this point, however, that Aquaman fans everywhere will be quite pleased with the movie when it arrives in theaters later this year.
More: Every Aquaman Update You Need To Know
This #SDCC post is brought to you in partnership with Regal Cinemas.
