The not-so-favorable reviews for Justice League are partly because of a lack of character development of its central heroes, especially Aquaman. Jason Momoa has now spoke up about the cuts that his character had to undergo in the editing room.
Justice League is facing criticism ever since it hit the theaters. The box office report doesn’t seem very impressive considering that the superhero team-up film was expected to break all records. Negative reviews are one of the biggest reasons for the film’s under-performance so far at the box office.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jason Momoa spoke about the cuts that his character Aquaman had to go through. He said, “The challenging part is [the Justice League story] is only about a weekend in Author Curry’s life. [Fans] might be like, ‘Why is he that grumpy? Why’s he hiding up there?’ We had it all planned out. A lot of things got cut. But it’s not my movie. It’s a huge movie introducing three new characters, and for myself and The Flash and Cyborg, there was a lot that was there we just couldn’t get in. It could have been two movies. We had some stuff with William Dafoe. The whole Atlantean part, about me being this reluctant king. There was no need for it because you’re going to see it in Aquaman. It’s not an Aquaman movie, it’s a Justice League movie.”
Justice League had to go through a lot of obstacles. The director and brain behind the film, Zack Snyder, stepped down during post-production stage to deal with the loss of his daughter. Joss Whedon then took over and in less than two months, re-shoots worth $25 million were made.
One of the biggest disappointments in Justice League is that some of the superheroes like Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash clearly lacked depth. The one who suffered most from the re-shoots and post-production changes was Aquaman/Jason Momoa. Flash lost Iris while some crucial scenes of Cyborg when he attempts to understand his abilities were also cut. As for Aquaman, all his backstory was lost completely.
Joss Whedon, however, took a lot of effort in adding humor and brightening the film. He chose to focus mainly on Justice League’s three big heroes – Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
This must have been done mostly because the solo movies for Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg will follow soon. Aquaman’s solo movie is expected to release in December next year, and hopefully, we will be able to get a better perspective of this character then.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
