Jason Momoa Demands A Raunchy, R-Rated Solo Lobo Film

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 17 seconds ago

Even though the movie hasn’t been released yet, the buzz around Supergirl is not positive. Part of this may be the behavior of Milly Alcock during the press tour for the movie, in which she has insulted almost every major demographic that would have been interested with outrageous comments and assertions. Part of it might also be that people who’ve seen advanced screenings claim it bears a lot of similarity in plot to Guardians of the Galaxy. Part of it might just be superhero movie fatigue after decades of being swamped by the X-Men, Avengers, and Justice League universes.

One thing that has been universally acclaimed, even by the naysayers, is the appearance of Jason Momoa as Lobo, the anti-hero mercenary bounty hunter from the planet Czarnia. Not only does the actor perfectly look the part, but his delivery reflects the comic book character extremely well. Momoa recently said in interviews that he and the heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran, have met to discuss the character’s future in the cinematic universe.

Three Cheers For Quality Control!!!

“I do not have any interest in making a Lobo PG-13 movie,” Momoa reportedly said. He added that he’d appear as a supporting role in any other DC movie, but a Lobo stand-alone film has to be rated R, according to the actor.

Given that Lobo was originally a villain, and then re-purposed in the 1990s to be a parody of ultra-violent, vigilante Marvel characters like Wolverine and The Punisher, it would be difficult to make a Lobo movie that is rated PG-13, anyway. Lobo bears a lot in common with his comic book mirror, Deadpool (who was likewise originally a villain in his original 1991 introduction), in that he is irreverent, destructive, and rebellious. He is full of sarcastic lines and crude humor that would be too much for a PG-13 movie and trying to tone him down to meet that rating would make the character bland and cartoonish, a pale shade of who he really is.

Momoa’s insistence on an R-rated stand-alone film is therefore a defense of the brand and shows a good understanding of the character he has taken on. It also doesn’t mean we’ll never see Lobo on-screen again. The actor is willing to play the character in any other movie, as long as it doesn’t center around Lobo. It’s understandable why studios may not have wanted Supergirl or other more family-oriented characters to have movies with an R rating, since they are meant as much for the kids as the adults. But Lobo’s appeal is strictly for those kids who grew up reading comics under the shadow of true crusaders like Superman and Batman and, as adults, want a little more flavor to their heroes.

Could Be DC’s Answer To Deadpool

Although Lobo was originally intended to be a parody of the rugged anti-hero, he wound up becoming embraced by fans after his redesign in the 1990s gave him a more biker-oriented look. He became so popular that he was competitor Stan Lee’s favorite DC hero, and while Marvel parodied the character a few times, the comic company never openly mocked him. A Lobo stand-alone film might seem a bit cliché in the wake of so many other characters of his type, but Lobo is the “OG” and Momoa seems ready to carry the character on-screen in a wide variety of projects.

The fact that Momoa seems so perfect for the role is what would elevate a potential Lobo movie into the same popularity as its Marvel rival, the Deadpool franchise. A Lobo movie has all the ingredients that made the Deadpool franchise such a success, offering audiences a welcome reprieve from the sanitized mainstream superhero movies Supergirl seems to be promising. Momoa has the same passion for Lobo that Ryan Reynolds has for Deadpool, and that is reflected in what he is willing to do with the character for the DCU.

If Momoa just tanked any possibility of a stand-alone Lobo movie by insisting that it be rated R, he also did a good thing for audiences. It’s better to not get anything at all than to get a version of Lobo that isn’t true to his wild, rebellious, and violent nature in his own movie. Let him do all that PG-13 stuff for PG-13 superheroes, but let Lobo be Lobo in his own film.