Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opens in theaters today, marking the end of the DCEU once and for all. It’s been a low-key build to the sequel, especially when you consider its predecessor made over $1B billion and received positive reviews. But then, this has been a bad year as multiple DC projects have tanked at the box office, as fans have seemingly checked out before the arrival of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s reboot DC Studios in 2025.
But it’s been a depressing end for star Jason Momoa, who threw himself into the role of Aquaman with gusto and is one of the main reasons for checking out the new film.
Speaking with Fandango, Momoa talked about the end of the DCEU…
“It’s going to be sad because we’re going to be the end of the DCU, and it’s a whole new, you know, what 14 years of that whole universe… It was fun playing him,” Momoa said.
So what’s next? Rumor is that Gunn wants Momoa for the role of Lobo. This is interesting because Momoa was initially thought to be playing that part years ago, only to be recruited for Aquaman. He talked about that, and reveals he wasn’t really into the whole Aquaman thing in the beginning.
“Well, I originally thought I was going to be playing Lobo because I was called in. I auditioned for Batman, and I almost didn’t do it,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘This is silly. It’s not gonna be me. Why am I auditioning for Batman?’ But it was just a run-of-the-mill audition. And then I got called in right after it was announced, and I was like, ‘ah f**k, of course, I’m gonna play the bad guy, cause I’m a big guy, I can kick the sh*t out of those two [Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill] and so I was like, ‘yeah, I’ll come in and beat ’em up and die like I do.’”
“And so, [Zack Snyder was like] do you know who you’re gonna play?” Momoa continued. “And I was like, ‘Lobo, of course, he’s the only one that can fight Batman and Superman,’ and [Zack] was like, ‘What? Lobo? He’s not in this universe,’ and I was like, ‘What? Who the hell am I supposed to play?’”
“I wish he woulda tapped it because he was like Aquaman, and I was like ‘The f*ck are you talking about?’ And I was like, ‘How?’ and he… told me his vision. ‘You’re Polynesian, it would be like this, and you’re this mix, but you live in the ice, and you go to these places, you’re this traveler, and you’ll punch Batman in the face and kiss Wonder Woman, you’re like this renegade.’… And …you gotta give it to Zack; he dreamt up something really… he built this unbelievable character.”
The Lobo thing isn’t set in stone just yet, but if Gunn wants him, Momoa is definitely down for it.
“F*ck yeah, it’s a guarantee you don’t need to worry about that. But I haven’t received that call, so I don’t want to put out any fake news, but if they ever call me to ask him to play him or audition, I’m there.”
