Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

In 2 weeks, fans will get to witness the true debut of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman in Justice League. But according to the actor, when he went to audition for Batman V Superman, he read for a very different character.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Jason Momoa spoke about playing Aquaman and how Zack Snyder initially had him read for the role of Batman despite Ben Affleck already being cast:

“When Zack first approached me, it was a bit of a mystery because when I went in for the audition, he wanted me to read for Batman – and Ben had already been cast in the role by that point. So, I knew something fishy was going on and just read the lines with a lot of attitude, like I didn’t care what was on the page [laughs]!”

This led to Mamoa thinking that Snyder wanted him to portray a Batman villain that would go up against Affleck in the film. He then realized he was very wrong:

“And then Zack said to me, ‘Do you know who I want you to play?’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll be a villain or some bad dude who comes in and fights Batman – sounds like fun.’ He said, ‘I want you to play Aquaman.’”

Thankfully, Snyder did not cast Momoa in a throwaway role. Momoa’s iteration of Aquaman has been credited with reinventing the character and bringing a newfound popularity to an otherwise mocked hero. In previous interviews, Momoa has stated that his Arthur Curry will start out as an outcast and will not fully reach his true heroic potential. He’ll then eventually come around and assist Batman in helping to defeat Steppenwolf and his parademon army, leading to his own solo film set for a 2018 release date.

Justice League premieres in theatres on November 16, 2017.