Aquaman’s Jason Momoa Auditioned For a Role in Guardians of the Galaxy
Aquaman star Jason Momoa leads the only DC Extended Universe film to come out this year, but he very nearly appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe first.
Ahead of Aquaman‘s big trailer debut at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Momoa revealed he was approached to appear in two Marvel Studios films before being cast as the DC superhero in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
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“I met the Russo rrothers, who are amazing. It was one of the best meetings I’ve ever had,” admitted Momoa in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was going to be a villain, I think. People always want to hire me to play a villain.”
Given the timing of the meeting, Momoa may have met with the Infinity War directors for a role in either 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier or 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. With Momoa revealing he was up to play a villain, he may have met the directorial team to potentially play Crossbones with the role ultimately going to Frank Grillo who played the Marvel antagonist in both Captain America sequels.
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In addition to meeting with the Russos, Momoa also revealed that he auditioned opposite Chris Pratt for a role in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. This was previously reported to be for the role of Drax the Destroyer with Dave Bautista going on to be cast for the part.
“I did an audition for Guardians of the Galaxy, which was super cool,” recalled Momoa. “I got to audition with [Chris Pratt], who’s just a legend and a gentleman. That didn’t work out.”
While Momoa ended up not appearing in any MCU film to date, shortly after the audition he was approached by Zack Snyder to audition for Batman before the role went to Ben Affleck. The actor made an impression with Snyder, however, and he ultimately got the role of Aquaman instead which is where audiences can see him next.
Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, and Dolph Lundgren as Nereus. The film is scheduled to make a big splash in theaters on December 21.
