Today, Jason Momoa is arguably the most successful actor in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) with his solo film, Aquaman, raking in an estimated $1.15 billion at the box office. And while other DCEU stars have decided to leave the franchise in recent years (namely, Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill), Momoa is certainly expected to reprise his superhero role in future movies.
Unbeknownst to many, however, the actor’s first few years with DC were rough. In fact, Momoa himself even said that there were as time when his situation was ‘brutal.’
He Originally Auditioned For Another DC Character
Around the time that Zack Snyder was casting for the Caped Crusader for the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Momoa was persuaded to try out despite his reluctance. “[I]t was a big casting call, so I knew a lot of people were going to be doing it,” the actor recalled during an interview with Syfy Wire. “And I just felt like it was a booby trap, and I didn’t want to do it.”
During his audition, Momoa decided to portray a grim take on Batman. “I just pretended that Batman got killed in an alleyway, and I picked it up and tried to play him like I was just down and out — poor, over it, just done wrong, and he wasn’t afraid to punch even good people in the face...,” the actor recalled. “But also, like, flawed, like the kind of person who would jump off the cliff and figure out on the way down, what we’re gonna do — that kind of guy.”
And although his performance may not have been what director Zack Snyder and his team were expecting, Momoa certainly left quite an impression. In fact, he managed to convince Snyder that he would be perfect for another key role. “I did that and it was exactly what Zack wanted for Arthur Curry,” Momoa revealed while speaking to The New York Times. As Aquaman director James Wan also told Collider, “He saw something in Jason and he'd go, ‘You know what? If I put Jason in this, no one's ever gonna make fun of Aquaman ever again.’” And while securing a DC role was quite an accomplishment for Momoa, the actor also quickly learned that his casting wouldn’t really mean much in the next few years.
Here’s Why His Time With DC Was ‘Brutal’ At First
Around the time that Snyder was putting together the DCEU, Momoa got cast in a role that would take his career in a new direction. The problem was he needed to wait a little longer for his casting to pay off. Snyder pointed out as much to Momoa. “He said, ‘The good news is you’re Aquaman,’” Momoa recalled. “’The bad news is no one is going to know for the next three to four years.’”
That essentially meant that despite his casting, Momoa still had to go around and look for other work in the meantime. “Then it was brutal, just trying to take odd jobs,” the actor explained. “You’re in one scene of Justice League or Batman or Superman. Then you get to Aquaman.”
Fortunately for Momoa, gigs did eventually come. Right after making an appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he appeared in films such as The Bad Batch, Sugar Mountain, Once Upon a Time in Venice, and Braven. At the same time, Momoa also scored the lead role in the Netflix series Frontier. For show creators Peter and Rob Blackie, there was no better actor to work with than Momoa who also happens to be a filmmaker at heart, which is why he is also credited as an executive producer. “He’s very, very interested in the arc of the show and the arc of his character and participates heavily in that part of the process,” Rob told TV, eh?. “It’s a common practice for a someone like him who shows a tremendous amount of interest.” Momoa wrapped up his time in Frontier after three seasons (the series ended in 2018). And just like that, he returned to DC Comics for an appearance in Justice League and the production of Aquaman.
In the end, Momoa was happy that he made brief appearances in a couple of DC films before doing his standalone movie. In a way, it helped prepare him for what’s to come. “It was just the coolest thing ever, and everyone was just amazing,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly. “By the time we got to Aquaman, it’s me, it’s my show. I’ve had two movies to get ready for this.” Little did he know, Aquaman would also go on to become the DCEU’s biggest hit to date.
At the moment, Momoa is hard at work on the production of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. His second standalone DC film is currently slated for release in December 2022.