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After contract negotiations fell through for Jason Momoa to appear as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel Studio’s mega-successful Guardians of the Galaxy, the Game of Thrones star was quickly snatched up for a different superhero – at a rival studio. For months, Momoa remained coy about his involvement in Warner Bros.’ Justice League universe but, alongside a slew of other DC movie announcements, the studio finally made it official – Momoa would portray Aquaman in a future solo film as well as the Justice League team-up (with a possible appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice).
However, unlike Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ben Affleck’s Batman, and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Momoa’s Aquaman, is not expected to play a significant role in the upcoming semi-Man of Steel sequel/Justice League prequel – meaning that fans would have to wait a bit longer to see the actor suited up as The King of the Seven Seas. Nevertheless, ahead of rumors that audiences could (finally) be treated to a teaser trailer for the film in the coming weeks, director Zack Snyder is giving fans a sneak peek at Momoa in costume as Aquaman.
The tease comes courtesy of Snyder’s official Twitter – in a late tweet with the hashtag #unitetheseven .
Like prior costume designs for Cavill, Affleck, and Gadot – Momoa’s Aquaman costume blends comic book inspirations (especially the New 52 version of the character) with traditional Polynesian body modification and classical battle gear. Unlike Batman, who is going to be relying heavily on tech, armor, and strategy in upcoming appearances, Aquaman’s super-strength, among other powers, allows the Atlantean to enter into battle with slightly less protective gear. Since the character is expected to be an agile fighter in and out of the water, it should come as no surprise that Momoa’s costume is equal parts armored plating, leather straps, and tribal ink.
Tonally, the picture is also a match for the images of Superman, Batman, and Gal Gadot that were featured at San Diego Comic-Con 2014 – further embracing the gritty approach to DC’s shared universe that Snyder introduced in Man of Steel (as opposed to Marvel’s slightly more colorful cinematic palette).
In fact, even though Affleck’s Batman spawned a series of “Sad Batman” memes, the Aquaman image is easily the darkest (and outright intimidating) character reveal so far – one that should help quiet skeptics that were still hung up on the idea that Aquaman would wear fish scale tights.
Instead, keeping with rumors that Aquaman may have a serious bone to pick with the Man of Steel – and blessed with a trident that can actually harm the Kryptonian – Jason Momoa’s underwater hero looks to be a deadly adversary – one that will, with time, grow to be an instrumental asset in the Justice League’s fight to protect Earth.
Lastly, now that DC has unveiled their own “phase one” Justice League roster, set to include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, the Flash, and (eventually) Green Lantern, the studio has also begun testing the buzz phrase: “Unite the Seven.”
Given the hero’s residence among the ‘Seven Seas,’ the first thought might be a potential storyline seeing Arthur Curry unite the undersea armies of the world. But with so little known about Atlantis in this movie universe, the more literal message – that as of today, fans will have seen four out of the seven heroes revealed – the phrase seems a tease that it’s just a matter of time until the studio sets out to Unite the Seven on the big screen.
It’s worth noting that while Shazam is still set for debut prior to Justice League – Part 2, we’ve routinely been told that the neither the character, nor his antihero antagonist Black Adam, will play a role in the mainline Justice League storyline (at least not yet).
Instead, as we’ve previously suggested, it’s very possible that we’ll see Green Lantern much sooner than his 2020 solo film release date would imply – an educated guess that seems all the more likely given that Warner Bros. is already teasing the union of a full seven member Justice League roster.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters on March 25, 2016, followed by Justice League on November 17th, 2017, Aquaman on July 27th, 2018, and Justice League – Part 2 on June 14th, 2019.