Black Manta’s voice in ‘Aquaman’ may be simulated with a trash can

Voice looping, or ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement), is the process of re-recording dialogue by the original actor after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes (thanks, Wikipedia!). With that definition out of the way, on to the news…

Aquaman director James Wan shared a photo of Black Manta actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen tonight. He was at a voice looping session and according to the director, was talking into a trash can to simulate the large Black Manta helmet he had to wear on set.

https://twitter.com/creepypuppet/status/959233022745747457

While this photo could have just been taken as a joke, I fully believe that Wan is telling the truth and Abdul-Mateen was talking into a trash can during his ADR session. These multi-million dollar movies often rely on the simplest solutions to achieve some of the effects they’re looking for.

Aquaman is currently in post-production and will hit theaters on December 21st.