George Miller’s Canceled Justice League Aquaman Star Opens Up About Recasting After 20 Years

Summary

• Santiago Cabrera almost played Aquaman in a shelved
  Justice League
  movie..
• Warner Bros used diverse casting with Cabrera and Jason Momoa for Aquaman, moving away from traditional comic portrayal.
• Cabrera is open to being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the new DCU, potentially as a villain instead of a hero like Aquaman.

While Jason Momoa is best known for playing Aquaman, he was not the first actor to be considered for the role on the big screen. In fact, in 2007, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga director George Miller came very close to directing a Justice League movie titled Justice League Mortal. The project was so close to filming that the movie was cast, and actor Santiago Cabrera, hot off his role on the hit television series Heroes, had been cast in the film before Warner Bros. shut the project down due to various behind-the-scenes issues, including the WGA Strike of 2007-2008 and change to Australian tax credits.

While promoting his latest series, Land of Women, Cabrera shared some details about his experience on the canceled Justice League: Mortal with The Hollywood Reporter. He also revealed that he is open to being cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC’s new DCU. While he might have originally, at one point, been considered a hero, he is also interested in playing a villain. Read his full quote below:

“Technically, I was
Aquaman
in 2007 when the writer’s strike hit. Just before, we went to Australia, I was with George Miller — I’m just such a fan, I think he’s phenomenal. And I had a little communication with him. My friend Tom Burke, who was fantastic in
Furiosa,
which I just loved, he was like, “Hey, George says ‘hi.’” It was a feeling like, would you like to be a superhero? The strike hit, so they put [
Justice League: Mortal
, which remained shelved] on hold.

But just being in his world, I went to Wētā, Peter Jackson’s FX company, where I tried the costume on. So it felt very real for a second there. But at the same time, it was like: Don’t do these things. In this business, until it’s all out there, until you’re at the premiere and you’re talking about it like I am now, it’s never real. Clearly, I was excited for that one. So if anything came again, I feel, why not? I’d love to go into the villain territory though, I think I’d enjoy it.”

Justice League

Release Date November 17, 2017

Cast Jeremy Irons , Gal Gadot , Amy Adams , Jesse Eisenberg , Ciarán Hinds , Ben Affleck , Henry Cavill , Ezra Miller , J. K. Simmons , Jason Momoa , Ray Fisher

Franchise DCEU

Characters By Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, DC Comics

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Warner Bros. History With Aquaman

For Justice League: Mortal, Miller had assembled a cast of then-up-and-coming talent in the hopes they would play these roles for years to come. The film was also set to be separate from both Batman Begins and Superman Returns. The cast included D.J Cotrona (Shazam!) as Superman, Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as Batman, Megan Gale (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Wonder Woman, Common (John Wick: Chapter 2) as John Stewart/Green Lantern, Adam Brody (The O.C.) as Barry Allen/Flash, Hugh Geays-Bryne (Mad Max) as Martian Manhunter, Teressa Palmer (Lights Out) as Talia Al’Ghul, Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon) as Maxwell Lord, and Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) as Wally West, the future Flash.

What is interesting about Warner Bros. casting Cabrera and the eventual choice of Jason Momoa as Aquaman is that Warner Bros. did seem interested in moving away from the traditional blonde-haired version of the character that had been drawn in the comics for years as early as the mid-2000s. This was first teased in HBO’s Entourage. HBO like DC Comics is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. when Adrien Grenier’s Vincent Chase is cast as Aquaman. While part of that series joke is that Vince looks nothing like Aquaman, and Grenier himself is of Spanish and Mexican descent, it appeared the idea of moving away from a pale Aquaman was something that stuck around as Cabrera is of Chilean descent while Jason Momoa is of Polynesian descent.

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With Momoa’s time as Aquaman seemingly over, and now rumored to be eyed for a role as Lobo in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the door is open for a new Aquaman in James Gunn’s DCU. Notably, Aquaman is one of the major Justice League members not accounted for in James Gunn’s DC announcements, the others being Wonder Woman and Flash. While it is unknown if Cabrera will return as Aquaman, the idea of him being part of a superhero project did not go out the door with Justice League: Mortal. Two of his potential Justice League co-stars, D.J. Cotrona and Adam Brody, later co-starred in both Shazam! and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. With the DCU just beginning and plenty of villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is no shortage of roles for Cabrera to play.

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