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As reported yesterday, Game of Thrones‘ Jason Momoa is in talks to join the 2015 follow-up to Man of Steel — but whom will he play? Names like Doomsday and the Martian Manhunter have been thrown around, but as the recent addition of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman — and the rumored inclusion of the Flash — demonstrate, everyone in the DC superhero universe appears to be up for grabs. Here, then, are five other possibilities for Momoa’s superheroic debut.
H’El: A relatively recent addition to the Superman mythos, the unfortunately named H’El — insert “On my planet, it means hope” joke here — is a fellow survivor of Krypton’s destruction who arrived on Earth with one simple plan: to change history so that the planet was never destroyed. While it would, admittedly, make little sense to follow Man of Steel with a movie featuring a villain with similar backstory and plan to Zod, there’s no denying that the character bears a certain resemblance to Momoa, if that actor’s skin were pale white as the result of interplanetary travel.
STORY: Jason Momoa in Talks to Join Batman-Superman Movie (Exclusive)
Bizarro: Staying on the subject of Superman villains with chalk white skin, there’s always the imperfect clone of the Man of Steel that first appeared in an issue of Superboy way back in 1958. While he might not share a hairstyle with the actor — currently, Bizarro sports something closer to a mohawk — the idea of Momoa playing the closest thing to an brutish evil twin to Superman is oddly appealing. I wonder how well he’d handle “Bizarro Talk”?
Orion: Admittedly, the idea of seeing Momoa as the hero of Jack Kirby’s classic New Gods series seems a little unlikely at first blush, but it’s not outside of the realm of possibility. After all, the character is currently a supporting character in the Wonder Woman series, and we know that she’s appearing in the movie, and utilizing Orion would mean that the movie franchise has introduced DC’s Fourth World mythology, complete with Darkseid, Orion’s father and a character many consider DC’s strongest bad guy. As for Orion himself, he’s a barely-restrained natural warrior with an internal sense of honor constantly at war with his better nature. A role Momoa could handle easily, surely … ?
Lobo: Of course, if there’s one DC Comics character who just seems perfect for Momoa, it’s the self-styled “Main Man,”, a violent, sociopathic intergalactic bounty hunter who’ll let nothing get in the way of getting the job done. Not only would the muscular Momoa have no problem with Lobo’s scrappy, fightin’ ways, but come on — he looks just like the character. The only problem with this idea is just how to bring Lobo into a movie that’s already filled with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman without it seeming entirely disjointed — he doesn’t really have any natural connection with any character, despite making an appearance in the Superman animated series during the ’90s. But as a cameo setting up the once-rumored solo Lobo movie, I could see it.
Aquaman: OK, this one might seem like a bit of a long shot at first — Momoa’s not even blonde! — but bear with me. We know that the Man of Steel sequel will definitely feature three members of the Justice League, and possibly a fourth if the Flash rumors pan out, so the idea of adding a fifth doesn’t seem that outside the realm of possibility, especially if it’s a cameo to set something bigger up down the line. Adding Aquaman makes sense, in terms of Justice League membership — he’s one of the founding members of the team in every incarnation, and he’s a bridge between Wonder Woman and the World’s Finest partnership of Batman and Superman, by being (a) royalty and (b) an alpha male prone to being an ass at times.
Momoa may seem like an odd choice to play the traditional version of Arthur, King of Atlantis — a character who was all wet in more ways than one — but in recent years, DC has been attempting to portray the character as a warrior king, perhaps overcompensating for his being the butt of so many jokes throughout the years. If Warners/DC Entertainment decide to go that route for a movie Aquaman, then it’s possible Momoa could be a convincing choice. We’d just have to hope that he could wear a convincing wig during production.
Convinced by any of these choices? Feel free to leave your own selections in the comments — and explain who’d make a better Aquaman, as well. I’m stumped.
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