Justice League's poor reception has Jason Momoa feeling "kind of bummed out"

Mixed reviews from critics and fans have lead to a poor opening weekend for Justice League, but star Jason Momoa is trying to block out all of the negativity.

“I try to stay the f*ck away from what people say,” the Aquaman actor told Entertainment Weekly. “Some of my friends said, ‘Justice League isn’t doing well’ and it kind of bummed me out. But I didn’t want to look it up. I don’t want to look up the bad and the negativity. I don’t think that’s useful; it doesn’t help.”

Much of Aquaman's backstory was cut from Justice League, including scenes with Willem Dafoe. Here's what Momoa had to say about it:

“The challenging part is [the Justice League story] is only about a weekend in Author Curry’s life,” he said. “[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 [Willem] 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.”

Fans will be able to see more of Jason Momoa and his character's story when Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018.

SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly

240 comments

Godspeed

November 21, 2017

I think the crucial problem of Justice League for the mainstream audience was that they simply did not know half of that superteam yet.

Avengers was such a huge hit in 2012 because people had already successfully been introduced to Iron Man, Cap, Thor and Black Widow. They were excited about these characters before the team up and the prospect of seeing those characters they already loved team up was what was really the ultimate draw of the movie. There was already a universal love for these characters BEFORE Avengers.

I understand that DC wanted to take a different approach to not come across as "they just copy Marvel". I get that. But it simply did not work. Because the truth simply is that Marvels approach was simply the perfect way to bring such a team together. First you make people love these characters on their own, then you put them together. It's a no brainer. Its what Universal did with their classic monsters in the 40s and 50s. It's what the DC TV shows have done. It's what Marvels Netflix shows have done.

Another problem DC had was the fact that these versions of Batman and Superman were not universally beloved before Justice League like Iron Man or Captain America were in the MCU. There was a lot of controversy surrounding Batman and Superman in MoS and BvS from DAY ONE. So much debate about the absence of joy and humor from Superman, killing Zod, the titanic destruction of Metropolis, Batman mowing down criminals and so on. I am not questioning the place of these events in those movies but merely pointing out that these things generated a lot of controversy and ultimately negativity towards the DCEU versions of Batman and Superman among mainstream media and audience. controversy and negativity that Cap, Iron Man or Thor simply were not burdened with prior to Avengers. And this ultimately hurt the perception of Cavills Superman and Afflecks Batman to the point that they were considered to be in need of "redemption" in future movies. They were already rejected by a large number of people before Justice League came along. And that is something that NEVER happened with the big three of the Avengers. The excitement for Avengers was never tainted with negativity or controversy beforehand.

Then there is the fact that two of the most major characters of Justice League (Flash and Aquaman) had not been properly introduced before Justice League, thus most people (aside from comic fans) were not really familiar with them as characters. As a result they did not have the same amount of excitement for them to team up as they did with most of the Avengers. The idea to not give Flash and Aquaman solo movies BEFORE Justice League to make the mainstream audience fall in love with them before the team up was something I criticised from day one. It was impossible for Justice League to create the same amount of hype and excitement among regular movie goers that Avengers had done because they had no reason to care for half of the JL yet. And of the other three characters, two had been met with a lot of controversy and mixed reception and only Wonder Woman was a character that was really universally beloved in that cinematic universe.

Taking ALL of that into consideration, it should come as no surprise that Justice League is performing the way it does. Even with stellar reviews and even if Snyder had been able to finish the film by himself the end result would still have been this at the box office.

I know it's not what the DCEU die hards want to hear, but the way Marvel has structured and built up the MCU was always the way to go for DC. the concept of shared universes does not belong to Marvel and neither does the way to properly take the time to build up such a universe and bring a team together after making people care about the individidual players first.

I mean clearly Marvels way struck a nerve with audiences. It works. It has worked for the last 10 YEARS. And by trying so hard to be different for the sake of different instead of doing what the comics do, DC has inflicted great harm onto their cinematic universe.

if a Justice League movie (the biggest gun DC will ever have) is not an absolute smash hit that at least is as successful and beloved as an Avengers sequel, then even the blindest fanboy has to admit that something went seriously wrong with how this team up (or rather the build up to it) was handled.

The DCEU does not need to copy Marvels movies to be great. But they need to take a page from Marvels playbook as to how to built up your cinematic universes and its characters.

Joshua J. Dazzle Bevel
November 21, 2017
Good comment. Very good points.
OptimistPrime99
November 21, 2017
I agree that Batfleck wasn't as well-received in BvS, as others would have led you to believe. But Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman gained a lot of support, just a few months ago. And even though the general audience hadn't gotten to know Jason Momoa's Aquaman, Ezra Miller's Flash, and Ray Fisher's Cyborg, the marketing and the Justice League brand, should've been at least on par with the first Guardians of the Galaxy, to get people interested.
I do agree that Justice League should've been delayed, so that the script and execution could be dissected more. But waiting longer, and releasing solo movies that may or may not have worked (2011's Green Lantern), would've been risky as well. Warner Brothers struggling with making critically acclaimed, and well-received DC movies, is nothing new, regardless of how many characters are in it.
1. Godspeed
  November 22, 2017
  You raise a good point with Guardians. But again Guardians did not have the problem of having two of their biggest characters tainted with negativity and controversy before it came out. And Guardians just really emphasized how crazy and ridiculous they were gonna make it. That just struck a nerve.
  And I already said that Gals WW is the only universally beloved DCEU character so I don't know why you brought that up as an argument again as I already pointed that out myself. But it`s not enough. If Warner had made movies about Flash and Aquaman first that would make them fan favorites in the way Marvel did with Iron Man and Cap there would have been a lot more excitement among movie goers to see them team up.
  And yeah solo movies with new characters are a risk. They are always a risk. Have you any idea what a huge risk Iron Man was in 2008 ? What a huge risk Thor and Cap were in 2011 and of course Guardians in 2014, Ant-Man in 2015 and Doc Strange in 2016. They were all risks.
  You can not create a well received and successful cinematic universe without taking risks. Ultimately Marvel had faith in these films because they believed they could be great and beloved movies. They just had a sense for that. And they were right.
  Green Lantern was a failure, not because of the character but simply because it was a really bad movie. X-Men Origins Wolverine was not a total failure because Wolverine does not work as a solo character (which LOGAN ultimately proved this year) but because it was a badly chopped up movie.
  So yeah of course Warner has to take risks. They should have taken the risk of making Flash and Aquaman movies and have faith in those movies and those making them instead of coming in and cutting them apart out of fear and desperation to be successful.
  Thats why Marvels thing has been working for 10 years and whatever WB is doing is not. Plain and simple.
Bruce Wayne
November 21, 2017
Rubbish. Everyone knows Batman. Everyone knows Superman. Wonder Woman just had a blockbuster. Flash is pretty popular. The only relative unknowns to the casuals are Cyborg and Aquaman.
1. Godspeed
  November 22, 2017
  dude you have not read a single thing I actually wrote. Or you read it and twisted all of it so it fits your perception and argument. And how were Iron Man, Cap and Thor "changed so much from the comics" ? They were incredibly faithful to their portrayal in the source material, especially when it comes to characterization.
  But again you have not paid attention to anything I wrote.
Bruce Wayne
November 21, 2017
Controversy didn't surround iron man, Thor and Cap because NOBODY knows these characters. They were NOBODIES to the casuals prior to these movies.
These characters were changed so much from their comics but no one batted an eye because NOBODY knew them and pretty much swallowed whatever marvel ejaculated.

Supporter

November 21, 2017

I'm really sorry about that. Momoa seems like a great guy and Aquaman was awesome in the movie. I just hope his movie rocks like Wonder Woman!

OptimistPrime99

November 21, 2017

https://uploads.disquscdn.c... It just doesn't make any sense, how much of a pounding JL has taken from most of the critics, and a lot of the fans. And unlike Suicide Squad, JL isn't dominating at the box-office. What happened to all those damn Wonder Woman fans, and people claiming Affleck was the greatest Batman ever? Are they waiting for after Thanksgiving to support this movie? Those @$$-holes are jeopardizing my Super Friends vs. The Legion of Doom movie, that will tease Darkseid and Apokolips! And that sucks! LOL

Cocaine Cowboy
November 21, 2017
They pissed off the big Snyder fans as well this time.
1. Godspeed
  November 21, 2017
  I think we can do without those five people.
  1. Cocaine Cowboy
    November 21, 2017
    Apparently not.
  2. OptimistPrime99
    November 21, 2017
    Well Snyder's got more than five Twitter followers, and there are actually several people who....LIKED Watchmen, MoS, and, BvS. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
  3. OGDickGrayson
    November 22, 2017
    Dam boi
2. near2131
  November 21, 2017
  Thank god
Phunny Guy
November 21, 2017
What are you trying to get at? Comic book movie fans are not blind drones. Just because the WB claims that it was a good movie, doesn’t mean it is. I was a DCEU fan before but seeing how the WB executives don’t give a rats ass about the fan base and these great DC characters, caused the disappointing reception to JL. Let’s be real, the WB released an unfinished product. As fans, we are cheated out of a complete movie, even if it was a product of Zac Snyder. I saw the movie and it was horribly disappointing. Whedon’s meddling made the plot hard to follow. The jokes fell flat. Batman was acting out of character and was the weakest link to the League when he should have been the strongest. The CGI sucked. The background story to the villain, flash, cyborg, and Aquaman was chopped too. Elfman’s music was god awful. It ruined all the action scenes. The reshoots by Whedon was a complete waste of time. Why should we support such a crappy movie? Is this the best that the WB could give us? Hell no!! This movie needs to bomb so they can learn a hard lesson. Next, some of the executives need to lose their jobs for demanding a 2 hour limit. I hope someone writes a book about this to let the fans know what really happened.
Bruce Wayne
November 21, 2017
I'm not gonna support a movie that treats Batman like trash. Fuck that. WB can take that "movie" and stick it where the sun don't shine.
1. OGDickGrayson
  November 22, 2017
  How was Batman treated like trash? Was it because PIS wasn't on his side for once?
  1. Bruce Wayne
    November 23, 2017
    Yes. None of his strategic thinking was used. His characteristics were the opposite of what he usually is. Everything was off about him.
Wagner Von Schmit
November 21, 2017
The feminzais didn't give it praise or care as much.

pw1x

November 21, 2017

https://www.change.org/p/wa...

residentgrigo

November 21, 2017

Mark Hughes, really pulling out the daggers on the DCEU:
https://www.forbes.com/site...
I agree of course. Aquaman, Shazam and obviously the next Batman will live to see another day but Elseworld banner may be coming sooner than later. Good night, Man of Tomorrow v Brainiac. Good night Darkseid (it hurts!) and good luck fighting Trump with the AT&T merger. The real blood will flow there!

Alan Conn
November 21, 2017
If WB would just back the fuck off and let the directors do what theyre hired to do i guarantee they wouldnt have had the pribs of the last few films... but theres been obvious bias from all sides toward the DCEU and its just stupid. As for the merger Trumps a goddamn idiot and theres no getting around his dumbassery.
1. residentgrigo
  November 21, 2017
  The budgets are a main problem. The director would have a far easier life if the got only half the money to play with. I never said to myself that Hellboy needed 3 times it´s budget. Just accept that the Marvel money train left the station (Fox certainly did) and be smart with your money. Half the drama would just melt away.

November 21, 2017

My 9 year old son and I, seen Thor and seen justice league. My son said justice league was horrible but Thor was great.

As for me I seen it twice just to see if the critics were wrong. At the end justice league to me was a failure. yeah we got to see all the heros but it was seems like Zach and joss styles didn't complement each other well.

Instead of blending together, it looked like joss and Zach were fighting each other on screen.

Bruce Wayne
November 21, 2017
Nothing like the word of a 9 year old on what constitutes a good movie. 🙄
1. Alan Conn
  November 21, 2017
  Right?
2. Tj
  November 22, 2017
  Actually buddy my son and i has watched every superhero movie that came out. And yes it sucks
Gotham's Wreckoning
November 22, 2017
Yeah, well, my 6 year old son loved Justice League and I'm pretty sure that if we go see Thor he'll love it too...'cause they're superheros.
1. Tj
  November 22, 2017
  Dude the movie was garbage, that's all I'm trying to say
  1. Gotham's Wreckoning
    November 22, 2017
    No, I understand that you didn't like the movie. That's fine. everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I was just giving a counter example of why using a child's opinion on a superhero movie isn't really a valid argument. Also, I don't understand how a 9 year old would think that Justice League was "horrible" unless your child is Roger Ebert reincarnate...
    And again, I'm not trying to say who's opinion is right or wrong because opinions are subjective. You didn't like the movie and that's cool, but I think calling it "garbage" is a bit of an over-exaggeration. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians would be a movie that is considered garbage.
    1. Tj
      November 22, 2017
      Because when we watch the great Batman's over and over, even a kid can tell garbage from treasure. Those movies meant something, gave us a deeper meaning.
      Don't underestimate a kid's genius.
      By the way I watched most of the movies a hundred times over and he watches it with me.
      So what I'm saying is my boy knows a good movie when he sees one.

Carl

November 21, 2017

Amen to that brother. Thankfully I get to enjoy it no matter what, even though I dislike other movies most people adore.

Nahuel Benvenuto

November 21, 2017

I feel bad for him, but anyway i am tired of all these scripted excuses, the movie is incomplete, that is a fact, they should, and could, release the complete version

Alan Conn
November 21, 2017
What scripted excuses?

Hunter Zolomon

November 21, 2017

You know what i find funny, if JL was released exactly as it is but Whedon had nothing to do with it and the whole film was Snyder and he said this version was his directors cut then all the Snyder fanboys would be calling the film high art and a classic what transcends comic book films and all that bollocks, hell i bet you would all defend Elfman's score if Snyder was the one who brought him on to the film and Snyder wanted the 89 Bat theme in it.

Alan Conn
November 21, 2017
Oh shut up dude... and u would be bashing it even had it received positive feedback... oh wait no, u just follow the crowd and cant think for urself.
1. Hunter Zolomon
  November 21, 2017
  How am i following the crowd? I even fucking liked JL and saw it again today for the 2nd time. I was actually extremely hyped for BvS last year and it actually took multiples watches for me to finally accept its a fucking awful film.
  Anyway what i said is true, Snyder could make a film of himself shitting on the grass in his garden and the fanboys on here would call it high art.

Tommy Pearson

November 21, 2017

The really weird thing this time is that no one is taking ownership of this movie. Zack hasn’t seen it. Joss isn’t talking about it. Jason seems to be the only one acknowledging the public reaction. Henry made a positive remark about his character. I haven’t seen anything yet from DC, WB or any of the producers.

Alan Conn
November 21, 2017
Hahaha! Cuz WB knows they fucked up in hacking the film up but they fucked up their chance of having a scapegoat to carry the blame. Still love the film myself tho.
1. Tommy Pearson
  November 21, 2017
  They can’t use this is for the fans again as an excuse, although that was widely rejected by fans after BVS. Their best resolve is to finish the visual effects and release a longer cut that fleshes out the story. Even scenes chopped down by seconds would give it better pacing.

Tommy Pearson

November 21, 2017

Actually that’s the one thing people aren’t talking about is how badass Mera was in the Steppenwolf attack!

ItzSilentStorm

November 21, 2017

they definitely could have kept more of the those scenes in like the one with Vulko. It sounds like that would have given more context to Arthur's situation and would have helped people understand him a bit more as well as low key set up his solo film a little bit. Not so much that it would be distracting though. I dont see a problem with that.

AnonymousHero

November 21, 2017

JL was pretty good. But we all know it could have been so much better admittedly or not. I understand the fallout, the uproar, the the disappointment. All of it. When Snyder got hurt, we all got hurt, whether you liked his stuff prior or not. At least it would have been a full, complete vision and trilogy from him that filled in the gaps and made an epic moment like this not feel as rushed. Honestly, 20 or 30 minutes more attached wouldn't have hurt anything to this film. It would have made this film simply breathe a bit. I didn't find it troubling but it was certainly noticeable. I've seen a good amount of folks and just basic moviegoers appreciate this film; it's DC fans who feel jipped out of something. I get it.

They were probably trying to please the studios who received backlash from fans and critics--and granted in Aquaman's case, yes, those kinds of things Momoa was talking about would be saved for his own solo movie, but it just goes to show that the wrong kind of backstory dialogue leading up to this moment where they come together wasn't the right things that Snyder should have been filming to begin with. Which is the real reason why everything was so abbreviated via Whedon in finding the others and having a short battle at the end. This version is probably as cleaned up as it gets and all we can do here is seek to build or flop.

Hopefully the rest of the characters solo movies will save the day and by the time they're ready face off with Darkseid, we will have figured out all the glitches and storylines with another visionary detailed director. Leave room for hope DC.... it's not over yet.

Julie D.
November 22, 2017
Amen, sir.

Bruce Wayne

November 21, 2017

There you go. Further proof that hack Whedon and lame WB ruined this movie with the unnecessary cuts, reshoots and time mandates.

nipple_pinchy

November 21, 2017

This is why I think Snyder needs a different medium to explore other than theatrically-released films. Let the guy do a story for Netflix or HBO or even the DC digital service coming in 2018. Just let the guy film as much goddamn footage as it takes to tell the story and put that out there instead of always trimming his stuff down to fit some arbitrary time limitation.

All these BS mandates for time and such, we never end up knowing what Snyder's actual vision was because it's always hampered by in-studio tampering and political maneuvering.

ShobiNaq

November 21, 2017

Man, I feel bad for these actors. They're so good at their roles, yet keep on being shoved into shitty movies with crappy directors (Looking at you Snyder).

Yes Indeed

November 21, 2017

this is why you introduce core characters first like those guys that took the initial risk and have been doing this right the whole time.

batwuch
November 21, 2017
I have read the comics. I don't care to see Cyborg's, Flash or Aquaman's origin. To me, It is just like Hawkeye and Black Widow.
1. Yes Indeed
  November 24, 2017
  I know some DC stans that would dox or stalk you for even comparing the venerable Flash and Aquaman to the like of Hawkeye or Widow. but I agree with you. i'm not asking for Cyborg or Aquaman movies (even though for some reason they are making them lol) I was thinking introduce cyborg in a Flash movie, introduce Aquaman in Justice League after the other 6 are set up. but of course that would mean very different movies than what we already got. the big failure was the current film slate as released. it made no fucking sense and half the movies didn't have anything to do with setting up Justice League. this whole thing was done wrong and it's time people just admit that and fuck off.
thefallen83
November 22, 2017
No.

Thinwheat

November 21, 2017

I thought Momoa was a badass. He did a great job, I'm really looking forward to his Aquaman film next year.
"Ride ain't over yet!"

Frank

November 21, 2017

I would love more scenes about Steppenwolf, but I agree with the cut of these three superheroes. The movie is about the group, not solo movies. I hope Cyborg get a movie soon and I am with Aquaman, I can't with this negativity about DC Films.

thefallen83

November 22, 2017

I think it's possible to use some of those cuts for the solo movies.

BRUCEisGONE

November 22, 2017

That's exactly why this movie sucked so bad. So many scenes which would contribute to the STORY got cut so the kids in the audience would be able to sit through it. This universe is not for kids. Marvel movies are to som extent(if you don't mind your kid being exposed to a monstrous sexual subliminal messaging) or animated. True fans would love to see Antlantis and understand Aquaman. That he is an outcast and doesn't belong neither there nor here. Fans would love to see Barry & Iris on screen. We would love to see Cyborg's mom, and him being frustrated about his dad. That's how good stories work, they take their time (Bruce riding a horse) and they make us care about the characters. You see nobody cares for action and jokes, thats cheap. Support Zack's cut with Your signature too: https://www.change.org/p/wa...

OGDickGrayson

November 22, 2017

Gonna be pretty funny seeing Aquaman make like a 100+mil more than Justice League.

sj conker

November 23, 2017

"But it’s not my movie."
So humble. Hope the Aquaman movie is a big hit when it comes out.

Logicallylethal

November 23, 2017

Jason is right, it's not his movie, it's a Justice League movie.

But when you're intending on doing a Justice League movie and showcasing 3 characters who we've never seen on screen before, the backstory for each character is extremely important to have

WB has absolutely no idea how to build this universe. There's no vision right now for the DECU. Each movie is a literally a trial run to see what works and what doesn't. It's so infuriating to see what we thought was a fully mapped out universe turn out to be a scarcely thought out plan

Why rush to launch the DECU if you didn't have a CLEAR vision and plan. Marvel spent years mapping out how they wanted to build their universe, how they wanted to introduce each character, how the story lines would blend together to ultimately culminate in them coming together to for The Avengers.

Comicsfan

November 24, 2017

Hopefully Warner Bros. will learn from this and start making better movies. They've just been a mess so far.

NinjaGamer13

November 27, 2017

Just give us the Ultimate Edition!

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Justice League's poor reception has Jason Momoa feeling "kind of bummed out"

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