James Gunn elaborates on the DC Universe casting of Jason Momoa as Lobo and when fans may get a first look at him in costume. While his film may have been the movie to close out the DCEU movie timeline, Momoa is far from done with the world of DC, as he is getting a new role in the DCU franchise. However, this time, Momoa is taking on one of DC’s most famous antiheroes rather than a traditional superhero, as he is set to play Lobo in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
ScreenRant recently attended a big DC press event with Gunn and fellow DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran being present to give a bit of a check-in about Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters,” with Momoa’s Lobo casting being one of the topics they addressed. According to Gunn, tapping the former Aquaman star as Lobo was always “part of the plan” for the DCU, while he told the story of Momoa, who is a huge fan of the character himself, reaching out to him after his casting was announced:
James Gunn: Jason [Momoa] was literally the first text I got after this was announced. His text was – lemme see if I can remember it. I think it was “Lobo, baby!” All in Capital Letters with 10 million exclamation points. Essentially, I was like, “I think that’s a pretty good idea.” So, it was always part of the plan. I had no problems whatsoever with him having played Aquaman before.
Before he had even been cast as Lobo, there was a lot of excitement about the concept of having Momoa play the DC antihero, as Gunn and Safran were asked if the hype itself had any influence in getting the character introduced in the DCU this early. Per Safran and Gunn, this was also part of their strategy from the get-go, as they shared the following about having Lobo in the DCU franchise right at the beginning:
James Gunn: No, I always wanted it. ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool was about to come out, and everybody’s like, “Who is this guy? I don’t know him,” and blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you’re a comic book fan, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s an enormous character. Tons of people love him. There’s some fuel behind his. Same thing with Harley Quinn coming out in Suicide Squad. She’s not well known by everyone, but there is a lot of fandom behind Harley Quinn. Lobo’s one of those characters. Deathstroke is one of those characters. Those are characters that have a lot of people behind them who love them but aren’t known by the general public in the way Wonder Woman or Superman or Batman is. So, Lobo is always something I wanted to play with in the DCU.
Peter Safran: I mean, can anybody think of better casting for Lobo? It’s perfect. He looks like Lobo. He shows up on set looking like Lobo. Again, that’s one of the fun things about working with Craig Gillespie. He’s just been such a great collaborator on creating Milly’s look and Jason’s look and Matthias Schoenaerts’ look. It’s been fun.
As Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is currently filming, Gunn was also asked for an update on when fans may get to see a first look at Momoa as Lobo in the DCU. However, the DCU audience is going to have to wait as Gunn stressed that it won’t be anytime soon, stating the following:
James Gunn: It’s probably going to be a while, to be frank with you, because it’s all outer space. With Superman, we were sort of forced because we knew we were going to shoot outside for weeks. “Let’s just throw something out there,” so we did. But with Jason, I’m not sure. I don’t want to be cocky because you never know. They did get pictures of things on actual sets, but we’re not going to have to go shoot outside in the middle of London for three weeks where they’re going to be getting pictures of Lobo. So, we [don’t] have to release a picture earlier than we want to.
What James Gunn’s Comments About Jason Momoa As Lobo Mean
While the Aquaman franchise may have had a disappointing conclusion, Momoa is, without a doubt, one of the best actors to have been added during the DCEU era. Even though the DCU timeline is meant to serve as a reboot, having actors from a previous DC franchise appear as a new character won’t do any harm, especially as Momoa is playing a more obscure character from the DC canon. If Momoa had been cast as one of the Justice League heroes like Batman, that would have possibly been more distracting for the general audience.
When it comes to seeing Momoa’s Lobo in the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movie, it makes sense that they are not rushing to share a first look at him already. If they are filming mostly behind closed sets where paparazzi can’t snap any set pH๏τos, there is more time to prepare an actual reveal of Momoa as Lobo, especially once the world has seen Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El has been fully revealed. Since they haven’t even revealed Alcock in the full Supergirl costume yet, Momoa’s Lobo unveiling will have to wait.
Our Take On James Gunn’s Comments About Jason Momoa As Lobo
From the latest updates about Momoa joining the DCU’s Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” as Lobo, it will be exciting to see how he fits into the overall franchise after his debut in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. If his debut is well-received, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a Lobo spinoff of any kind, whether it’s a TV show or film, come to fruition. But for now, the world will have to wait patiently to see how Momoa does as Lobo in the DCU when he arrives on the big screen in 2026.
Upcoming DC Movie Releases
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Superman
- Release Date
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July 11, 2025
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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
- Release Date
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June 26, 2026
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The Batman Part II
- Release Date
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October 1, 2027