Aquaman is dead. Long live... Lobo?

It's the only way to read today's news Jason Momoa is officially the winner of the cast like DC's profane counterpart to Deadpool. The bounty hunter character first appeared in comics in 1983 as a villain, but became a fan favorite as an antihero in the 1990s. Momoa has been rumored to play the character since James Gunn and Peter Safran became the heads of DC's film division, and it's a character he seems perfect to portray, especially after his independent performance in Fast X. Lobo co-creator Keith Giffen envisioned Charnian as a hilariously violent parody of The Punisher, so he was shocked to see the character evolve into a lovable mercenary with little regard for human or alien life. Since then, there were attempts to bring the character to the big screenbut it's only now, within the DC Universe series of films that will soon begin to be released, that he should be introduced to mainstream moviegoers.

How will this go? If the "Deadpool" franchise. is a reliable barometer, he'll have success stomping on skulls—especially with a lovably goofy star like Momoa in the role. But there must be some concern at Warner Bros. that audiences will be confused about Momoa appearing early in the new run of DC films, especially given the success of the Aquaman movies compared to the rest of the DCEU. If they're trying to remove the brand trash left behind by the failed film universe, this would seem like a questionable choice.

This decision becomes more questionable when you consider that Lobo will launch alongside the title character of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which is said to be a quasi-adaptation of Tom King and Bilquis Evely's acclaimed series of the same title. Will there be some stupidity in the multiverse to justify this casting decision, or is there something else going on? Let's try to get to the bottom of it.

King and Evely's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is revered by many comic book fans as a thrilling and deeply moving riff on Charles Portis' novel True Grit. The story follows the jaded, out-of-sorts Kara Zor-El as she embarks on a journey of revenge at the behest of an alien girl. Condensed into a feature film, it's a narrative brimming with potential. So where does Lobo come into the story? In the comics, he doesn't — although, according to King, he almost did. As he told WordBalloon:

"That book ('Supergirl: World of Tomorrow') started while I was publishing a Lobo/Supergirl book, and it was my editors, Brittany Holzer and Jamie Rich, who were like, 'No, take out Lobo and make Supergirl the character. of Rooster Cogburn and so wouldn't exist without Jamie and Brittany.

Under Gunn's tutelage, director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira apparently plan to make King's initial pitch on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow . Lobo will be Rooster Cogburn and Supergirl will be Mattie Ross. It's a choice that could rub fans of the King-Evil iteration the wrong way. They had the opportunity to make a Supergirl movie with two fascinating, very different female heroes, and now they're turning it into a partial Lobo showcase. This could absolutely work, but it feels like a safe bet with the potential to please no one. Fortunately, we know that this take on Supergirl is going to be a little tougher, in Gunn's words:

"Superman was sent to Earth and he was raised by incredibly loving parents, while Kara was in a piece of Krypton drifting away from the planet and lived there for the first 14 years of her life (in) a horrible situation where she watched everyone around her die, so that she's a much fiercer and fiercer Supergirl."

We won't know until Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow hits theaters on June 26, 2026.