One of the most tried and true methods of landing a major role in a DC movie is to audition for the role of Batman. That’s how Cillian Murphy became Scarecrow and The Dark Knight Trilogy and it’s also how Jason Momoa landed the title role in Aquaman.

Momoa originally auditioned to play Batman for director Zack Snyder in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Believing he didn’t have much of a chance at getting the role, Momoa gambled with a very different take on the character.

“I kind of visualized, because it was a generic kind of just general scene for The Dark Knight,” Momoa recalled for Jake Hamilton at the Aquaman press junket. “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 didn’t want to do it. My agent’s like, ‘Do it.!’ So we did it.

“I just pretended 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.”

Momoa’s unconventional approach must have made an impression as the actor remembered Snyder’s surprising response. “They liked that and then I got called in about probably two or three weeks later and that’s when Zack laid it down and said ‘I want you to play Aquaman’, which was like ‘Excuse me?’”

Jason Momoa probably would have made a good Batman, but he’s perfect as Aquaman. Snyder called a pretty amazing audible there.

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