So happy and fortunate to be finally working with this man, @parkrandall, on pickups. #DrShin pic.twitter.com/q95PFEUSC2
— James Wan (@creepypuppet) April 12, 2018
In the comics, Doctor Shin has had a complicated relationship with Arthur. First introduced in 2011’s Aquaman #3, Doctor Shin’s comics origin as a marine biologist obsessed with discovering Atlantis tracks with his on-screen counterpart, but this movie leaves out Shin’s personal connection to the Curry family. In Aquaman’s New 52 origin, Shin was a friend of Arthur’s father, Tom, and actually helped the boy master his Atlantean powers, though the film establishes Willam Dafoe’s Vulko was Arthur’s teacher. In the New 52, Shin and Arthur’s relationship sank later on after Doctor Shin tried to murder Arthur for refusing to give up Atlantis’ location. Arthur and Doctor Shin gave that awkward hatchet a burial at sea, though, working together to defeat a killer race of underwater creatures known as The Trench.
So while Doctor Shin isn’t always a threat to Aquaman, his teaming up with Black Manta in the mid-credits scene does not bode well for the newly minted king of Atlantis, especially if it ends up pulling from 2012’s “The Others” arc. There, Shin hired Black Manta to obtain a sample of Arthur’s blood to prove his Atlantean heritage to the world, but Manta attempted to kill Arthur instead. Arthur’s father Tom stepped in to defend him and suffered a heart attack, which he later died from.Since we already know that Black Manta is out for vengeance against Aquaman for letting his father die in the opening scene of the movie, it seems like Tom Curry and maybe even Atlanna could be a prime targets for Black Manta and Doctor Shin to go after in the sequel. Considering how heartwarming Tom and Atlanna’s reunion was at the end of Aquaman, it would be devastating -- both for us and for their son Arthur -- for these star-crossed lovers to be broken up permanently. Balancing his new duties as king with a desire to protect his landfaring family would be an interesting way to continue Arthur’s journey of bringing balance to his two worlds, considering that we don’t know what other villains from the depths we could could see moving against Atlantis in the sequel.
What do you think Doctor Shin and Black Manta will be up to in the next Aquaman movie? Let us know in the comments! For more on Aquaman, check out our review, find out what James Wan had to say about the movie's craziest DC Comics cameo, and watch Jason Momoa respond to IGN Comments!
