Jason Momoa

For those of you unfamiliar with the rogues’ gallery of Aquaman, a brief primer: Black Manta is not an actual giant evil manta ray, but just some guy who hates Aquaman. The Ocean Master is Aquaman’s half-brother, a nefarious wizard and looter who, you guessed it, hates Aquaman. Nereus is a rival undersea king who, naturally, hates Aquaman. They’ll all show their watery faces in the upcoming feature film vehicle for the lord of the briny deep, but today, we can add one more name to the laundry list. (Probably.)

There are a few standouts in the Justice League trailer (aside from Zack Snyder’s glaring obsession with making audiences feel like they’re trapped in a 2001 NuMetal music video): Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen / The Flash, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman — all of whom inject the trailer with enough personality to make up for Ben Affleck’s affectless Batman. Momoa’s humorously gruff take on Aquaman is a pleasant surprise, and it’s really piqued our interest in his upcoming solo film from director James Wan, which has officially begun production.

It’s funny how things work out. A while back, when Jason Momoa was announced as the actor for Justice League and Aquaman, I wasn’t sure he was the right guy for the role. Momoa may actually be a human-sized action figure, but his acting skills seemed a little rough around the edges, and the last thing that Zack Snyder needed was a mediocre performance from one of the core players in the DC Cinematic Universe. And now, months later, Momoa is one of the few parts of Justice League I’m not worried about. Like I said, funny how things work out.

Well, it looks like action star Dolph Lundgren is stepping back into the world of DC Comics — this time into a big superhero tentpole. Lundgren has just joined the cast of James Wan’s Aquaman as the dastardly King Nereus.

You’re going to have to hold your breath for a whole two extra months before Jason Momoa’s Aquaman makes his solo debut.

Zack Snyder made a lot of enemies with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but critical dressing-down and scattered fan backlash won’t stop him. To quote esteemed post-structural thinker Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott: to those of you who hated, you only made Zack Snyder more creative. The director has redoubled his efforts as he continues work on the post-production process for the Justice League movie due November 17. They wrapped shooting back in October, so all that’s left is the time-consuming and often tedious process of digitally piecing the film together in the editing suite. But ever the barker for his corner of the D.C. universe, Snyder has offered his many supporters a glimpse into the in-progress cut that he’s toying with at present.

Things are heating up for the Justice League lately. We’ve got two new photos of the team in action (which mainly involves just standing around in costume), and now the Aquaman gang has gotten together for their first reading of the script. Director James Wan posted a photo on his Twitter account of him palling around with Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, and the hero himself, Jason Momoa.

Let’s face it: If you’re going to put Jason Momoa in the wilderness, furs are going to be worn, and people are going to get hurt. So it is, with the first official trailer for Momoa’s fur-trapping Netflix series Frontier, ahead of a January 20 premiere.

How much does Jason Momoa, hulking star of the upcoming Aquaman and eventual Justice League member, love his family? So much that he cut together an 8-minute video about his devotion and commitment to his beautiful children, and then ensured that millions of people would have to watch it by nestling some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the set of Justice League along with the golden-hued shots of his children playing in what appears to be the wheat field from Gladiator. The things we do for our kid

Listen. I know that the DC Cinematic Universe gets a lot of criticism for its dour visuals and themes, but let’s give credit where credit is due: Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is really shaping up like the sleeper hit of the whole endeavor. With a visual aesthetic stolen directly from an episode of Sons of Anarchy  —  and perhaps the most talented director of the Warner Bros. slate behind the camera  —  this is shaping up to be the best movie about people who talk to fish since Disney’s animated adaptation of The Little Mermaid.