10 Comic Book Characters Who Were Forced To Change Their Name
8. Black Manta Became Devil Ray
Changing the name of a superhero or supervillain isn’t just limited to comics. It can occur in other mediums including video games, TV shows, and films.
In the animated series, Spider-Man, the Sinister Six was changed to the Insidious Six since the producers thought the word “sinister” was too… well, sinister. The studio behind the Silver Surfer cartoon didn’t want to use the word “death” in the show so changed Thano’s lover, Mistress Death, to Lady Chaos.
And when it came to incorporating Aquaman's nemesis, Black Manta, into Justice League: Unlimited, the studio ran into a bit of a snag. In 2006, a television pilot was shot for a potential Aquaman series. Although the show was canned, the studio owned the rights to every character connected to the marine superhero at the time, including the aquatic mercenary. Because of this, Manta was replaced with Devil Ray in JLU.
Even though he is supposed to be a different character, it's clear Devil Ray is meant to be Manta since he has the same dish-shaped helmet and bug-eyed goggles. Bizarrely, Devil Ray was voiced by Michael Beach, who went on to play Black Manta’s father, Jesse Kane, in the film, Aquaman.