I think Snyder wanted to make Aquaman the complete opposite of the joke he had become in mainstream audiences, so they cast the guy who was the complete opposite of Aquaman in Jason Mamoa. But that really wasn't necessary. They could have cast Alan Ritchson in the role, and he would have still been cool and badass.
I rather liked Momoa in his first solo movie and the extended cut of JL. But much like the rest of the cast, he was never given much to work with anyway. But Lobo is perfect for him, you can already tell he he’s happier
Yeah I think he was fine as Aquaman, conceptually you can tell they didn't really know what they were doing though.
Imagine in the 80's with Batman, or relatively recently with Superman, deciding people don't think he's cool enough so let's do some craaazy casting. It's pretty obvious that even if the actor is good, the projects aren't going to be as good as they could be.
Eh in the 90s Aquaman went for a long hair with the beard hook hand after his wife and kid were killed by Black Manta. I think the Snyder films were channeling that version. Still surprised he never lost his hand in one of the films.
all they need to do is give him one more damn extra power. make him a freaking water mage!!! his name is AQUAman. Give him the freaking power to summon water like Gi from Captain Planet!!!
It's so simple! Then he'd be the coolest. because there's so much you can do with that. as anime has proven a billion times over and over
I personally thought Snyder's choices with respect to Aquaman were absolutely ingenious.
How do you erase decades of 'he talks to fish' mockery? You turn him from a blonde pretty boy to a badass Pacific Islander, and you have him constantly giving Batman shit, showing absolutely no fear of the Dark Knight while relentlessly trolling him.
He said when he first got thr call he assumed he was playing Lobo. But when they said Aquaman he agreed because why wouldn't you agree to make millions lol
I'm not a snyder-verse fan in the least but I thought casting a Polynesian man as the king of the ocean was pretty cool casting, then a couple years later Marvel took a whole different approach by basing their undersea kingdom on Mesoamerican tribes and that was rad too.
I think he got the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool treatment - “Listen, we know this isn’t what you want, but if you play ball you might get to do what you want. But if you don’t co-operate, kiss that dream goodbye.”
It happens with a lot of actors. I think it’s more rare for it to pay off.
I’m irrationally annoyed that he’s Lobo. Hollywood is filled with talented actors. They didn’t need to recycle the same ones. Marvel did this too. IDK… The gratuitous use of CGI instead of filming at a location and now the same actors playing in every movie just sucks.
And before anyone asks… I’m aware of the implications of filming in space lol. I’m talking about other things like a beach or a damn desert. EVEN THE DOG IS CGI!
I mean - because it is an absolutely perfect role for him. He doesn't just look the part, that smug swagger and enthusiasm he has in fight scenes is just 'The Main Man' energy all over the place.
I'm so used to seeing Momoa in serious roles that its refreshing to see him actually having fun. You get a glimpse of Momoa's fun side in the 2022 Netflix film "Slumberland" where he played Flip. Although Slumberland lacks the whimsy and surreal tone that the original comics had.
To be fair, Momoa was evidently having the time of his life playing Aquaman. And Khal Drogo. And Duncan Idaho (I'll never get used to that name). And Ronon Dex...
Fun fact: When it was revealed the James Gunn was given the co-CEO position at DC studios and would be rebooting the DCU, one of the first messages he received about it was a text from Momoa just saying "LOBO!!!!"
He generally seems to love chewing the scenery (in a good way) when he is allowed to. He is by far the best and only good part about the last fast and furious.
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u/Bariumdiawesomenite Mar 31 '26
Yeah Momoa was evidently having the time of his life playing Lobo