The Lego Movies are known irreverent humor and featuring many of the DCU‘s best and brightest characters – most notably Batman, who got his own hilarious Lego Movie in 2017 starring Will Arnett. Plenty more of his heroic friends pop up in minor roles, and one of the funniest is Aquaman, or was, until Jason Momoa started voicing him.
The Lego Movies have made a fine complement to the DCU since the first one in 2014. While they aren’t officially part of our DC movies in order timeline, I’d say you should include them for some welcome laughs. In The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Batman Movie (2017), the classic Aquaman is seen – with green pants, orange shirt and a blonde Justin Bieber-style mop of hair. But unlike Jonah Hill’s Green Lantern, we don’t hear him speak.
It’s not until The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (his third appearance after The Lego Batman Movie), that classic Aquaman gets a makeover to look like Jason Momoa’s version of one of the best DC characters, with flowing brown locks and more abs than you can shake a trident at. He finally gets a few lines, spoken by Momoa himself, but as cool as this scene is, it very much ruins a budding joke of Aquaman being mute in the Lego universe.
The appearance is what you’d expect from the Lego animated movies. In the land of Heck, Channing Tatum’s Superman has become friends with Lex Luthor (yes, one of the best DC villains). Green Lantern’s in the neighborhood, and as they’re conversing, Jason Momoa swings by. He announces: “General Zod just made homemade guac.” He follows this up stating, “I’m glittery!”
The scene then becomes about all the characters singing a special song to Emmett, who cannot figure out what’s happening. It’s a bit terrifying, but every time we watch it, we’re struck by Aquaman’s one line. Sure, it’s cool they got Momoa, but imagine if Aquaman had shown up, tried to talk but got interrupted, and then this became a trope of the franchise? Recurring jokes are good, and this one was prime for the taking.
A missed opportunity. Alas, we’ll be hearing from Momoa plenty when the Aquaman 2 release date comes around. When the film is released on December 20, 2023, it will have been exactly five years since the first Aquaman premiered. Aquaman 2 has been delayed more times than Batman has watched his parents die – and that’s saying something. The DCU will soon be all shook up by James Gunn’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
We’re also very excited to see David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in Superman Legacy. Make sure you also check out our guide to The Lego Movies ranked.