Although Aquaman has been around as a comic book character since 1941, it wasn’t until the 2010s that he made his theatrical debut, with Jason Momoa bringing Arthur Curry to life in the DCEU era of the DC movies in order. However, a little under a decade before Momoa first cameoed as Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the superhero was going to be depicted in live-action for George Miller’s Justice League: Mortal. Heroes and Star Trek: Picard’s Santiago Cabrera was cast as Arthur, and he opened up about Miller’s superhero movie being canceled and what it was like wearing the Aquaman suit for the first time.
While talking about his new TV series Land of Women, which can be streamed with an Apple TV+ subscription, Cabrera, who also starred in Season 3 of Max’s The Cleaning Lady, talked about his brief time tied to Aquaman when he was asked by THR if he would “answer the call” from Marvel or DC if an opportunity to star in one of their projects came along. In his words:
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.
Santiago Cabrera’s costars on Justice League: Mortal included D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Common as Green Lantern, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter and Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord, the lead villain. Had Mortal gotten off the ground, DC could have launched its first shared cinematic continuity around the same time the Marvel Cinematic Universe began. However, as Cabrera mentioned, the 2007-2008 writers strike through a wrench into the works, and there were various other delays and setbacks that popped up after the strike ended.
Ultimately, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to shelve Justice League: Mortal in favor of focusing on solo movies, though Man of Steel would then launch the DCEU in 2013. And while Santiago Cabrera never got to appear on the big screen as Aquaman, he at least got far enough into the preparation process to try on the costume he’d be wearing. The actor continued:
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.
So even though playing Aquaman didn’t work out, Cabrera is still game to come aboard the Marvel or DC franchises if something presents itself. For what it’s worth, D.J. Cotrona, Adam Brody and Common all went on to participate in the DCEU. The former two played the superpowered forms of Pedro and Freddy in the Shazam! movies, and common appeared in Suicide Squad as a criminal named Monster T. The first theatrical Justice League movie, which was largely put together by Joss Whedon during reshoots, came out in 2017, and the four-hour Zack Snyder’s Justice League was delivered to Max subscription holders in 2021.
Now fans await the new DC Universe, and while James Gunn’s Superman movie, which comes out on July 11, 2025, will see the Man of Steel teaming up with superheroes like Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho, there’s been no mention yet about if the Justice League exists in this continuity yet. However, if we’re getting the Justice League International, there’s no shortage of characters who could be on the team, and maybe Santiago Cabrera could play one of them.
