Who needs YouTube videos of people arranging objects into delightfully symmetrical shapes when Jason Momoa has been cast as Lobo in the upcoming movie? supergirl movie? Deadline reports that Momoa will play the DC Comics anti-hero alongside Millie Alcock’s Supergirl. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
Momoa confirmed in an Instagram post that Warner Bros. had contacted him, hinting at his long-held ambition to play Lobo, one of the most bombastic characters DC Comics has to offer.
And who can blame him? Lookalikes alone don’t make for a great superhero casting, but Momoa and Lobo have it. But it’s also undeniable that Lobo matches Momoa’s clear preference for roles: big personality, strong physique, and wholesome humor.
Lobo (yes, just “Lobo”) began his editorial life as a slightly used alien villain created by Keith Giffen and Roger Slifer in 1983, but he got his big break in the 1990s when Giffen, artist Simon Bisley, and other creators gave him a major overhaul. Yes. As a parody character. In the ’90s, Lobo became a giant-headed, Keith-like, cigar-choking, space motorcycle-riding, chain-wielding intergalactic bounty hunter. A rude, crude, murderous sidekick created as a send-up for the Punisher, Wolverine, Judge Dredd, and all the other 90s comics that leaned into x-tree violence and grit.
But, to paraphrase another DC Comics movie, he either dies as a parody or lives long enough to see him become everyone’s favorite character for the part he should be over the top with. Lobo has his trademark sci-fi chops (bastich, fragging), a space helicopter, an insistence on calling himself “the protagonist,” and the ability to somehow smoke a cigar in the vacuum of space. He’s completely selfish and strong enough to take on Superman, but he’s so annoying that even less powerful heroes find him as angry as he is scary.
But one place you won’t find him is in actual comic books. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow — but he fits the mold of a series that travels to the strangest parts of DC Comics’ interstellar landscape, and could either be a supporting character or a replacement for the comics’ main villain, a space outlaw in the employ of a space farm girl. Supergirl seeks revenge.
Of course, Momoa made quite a meal playing Arthur Curry/Aquaman in the Justice League and Aquaman movies. And it’s a good thing that didn’t stop the extraordinary joining of the perfect cast. Momoa is a perfect fit for Lobo, and I hope Lobo is a perfect fit for Lobo. supergirl.
