Before landing his Aquaman role, Jason Momoa auditioned to be the Caped Crusader in Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fans will soon see Momoa again in the James Wan-directed film, which will tackle his own journey of becoming the rightful king of Atlantis. But before becoming Arthur Curry, the former Game of Thrones star had another DC character in mind that he wanted to play: Batman.
As fans know, Ben Affleck ultimately got the role and has so far played the character three times - in Batman V Superman and Justice League, plus a cameo in Suicide Squad. However, despite being technically attached to reprise the character in Matt Reeves' The Batman, it's still unclear whether or not he will ever be the Bat of Gotham again due to persistent rumors he wants out of the role. Momoa, on the other hand, is busy gearing up for the release of his first solo DC flick.
Related: Every DCEU Movie Has Set Up Aquaman: Here's How
Sitting down with Jake's Takes during the press tour for Aquaman, Momoa recalled when he auditioned to play Batman in Snyder's Batman V Superman. He may not have gotten the gig he wanted, but the audition paved the way for him to nab the role of Aquaman.
Yeah I kind of visualized, because it was a generic kind of just general scene from the Christian Bale movie The Dark Knight and I just, it was a big casting call so I knew a lot of people were going to be doing it and I just felt like it was a booby trap and I just didn’t want to do it.
So, we did it and I just pretended like 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. And just go like unforgivable about certain things but also like flawed, like the kind of person who would jump off a cliff and figure out on the way down what we’re going to do.
So, they liked that and then I got called in about probably two to three weeks later and that’s when Zack laid it down and said ‘I want you to play Aquaman’, which was completely like ‘Excuse me?'
Aside from trying to play Batman, Momoa was also up for a couple of Marvel characters. At one point, he was in the running to play Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy - a role that ultimately landed went to Dave Bautista. He also met with Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo for a potential villain role in the MCU. It was never revealed what his supposed role was exactly considering that out of the three films the Russos directed for the franchise (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers 3), no villain really fits Momoa's carefree, cool vibe.
In the end, Momoa nabbed the superhero role he's meant to play. Since his cameo in Batman V Superman that led to a bigger role in Justice League, it's clear Snyder made the right call to choose him as Aquaman. It's an understatement to say that adapting the character in live-action is tricky given his silly reputation in the pages of the comics as well as the animated TV show. But Momoa brings a certain edginess and personality to the character that makes his version equal parts threatening and charming. And judging by the initial reactions to Aquaman, it's safe to say Wan capitalized on this aspect. Luckily, fans won't have to wait that long to see more of the actor as the hero with the film hitting theaters later this month.
More: Jason Momoa Meets His Madame Tussauds Aquaman Wax Figure
Source: Jake's Takes
