Although Jason Momoa had already built a name for himself on television for his roles on shows like Baywatch: Hawaii, Stargate Atlantis and Game of Thrones, following his turn as Conan the Barbarian, the actor's movie career got a significant boost when he was cast as Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman, in the DC Extended Universe. First cameoing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Momoa made his full Aquaman debut last year in Justice League, and we're only five months away from him snagging the spotlight in the Aquaman movie. But before he was brought into the DCEU, it turns out that Momoa had auditioned to appear in one of the Marvel movies directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. As for who he would have played, Momoa said:
I don't know. It was going to be a villain, I think. People always want to hire me to play a villain, you know?
Jason Momoa has talked in the past about how he turned down playing Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy because he didn't want to play another character who doesn't say much, but this is the first we've heard of him auditioning for one of the Russo Bros' entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Momoa described his encounter with the Russo Bros to EW as one of the best meetings he ever had, and while he was going to do something with them, it didn't work out.
Given that Jason Momoa was officially confirmed to be playing Aquaman in October 2014 (it had been rumored months ahead of time), presumably the Marvel movie he auditioned for was Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Russos' first contribution to the MCU. And since he thinks he would have been playing a villain, I'm guessing he was up for the role of either Brock Rumlow, the future Crossbones, or the other prominent member of the S.T.R.I.K.E. unit, Jack Collins. Those roles ultimately went to Frank Grillo and Callan Mulvey, respectively, with Grillo reprising Rumlow for Captain America: Civil War two years later. If Momoa had ended up playing Crossbones, while I have no doubt he could have been intimidating, ultimately he would have just been a supporting antagonist who gets killed off in his second appearance (though it's rumored Grillo will be back as Crossbones next year in Avengers 4). Whereas by playing Aquaman, he got to be one of the founding Justice Leaguers and later lead his own movie. Things have definitely worked out better for Momoa in the long run.
The next installment of the DCEU, Aquaman, hits theaters on December 21, and as for the MCU, Captain Marvel is next up on March 8, 2019, and the Russo Bros-directed Avengers 4 will conclude Phase 3 on May 3, 2019. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage on both superhero franchises.
