Jason Momoa’s been busy over the past few weeks protesting the construction of the TMT telescope on Hawaii’s most sacred mountain, Mauna Kea. Although he stated that this might prevent him from shooting Aquaman 2, it was pretty clear that the start date for production wasn’t until 2020, so Momoa was likely being hyperbolic. The man who embodied Khal Drago has clarified to CNN that the sequel probably wouldn’t be affected, but that he’s willing to protest indefinitely. “I don’t think anything’s gonna be happening up on the mountain for a while,” he stated. “Because when I did get really involved, [TMT] pushed it back for two more years, and that’s pretty crazy.” So, there’s progress, even if Momoa pulled out of a Wizard World convention appearance to get there.
Notably, Momoa was joined in his protests by Justice League co-star Ezra Miller, and it seems that Momoa was able to step away from activism for at least part of the weekend to prolong that vibe of that film in an unexpected way. The actor posted a video with director Zack Snyder, who recently confirmed that his fabled Snyder Cut of Justice League really does exist. Kevin Smith also doubled down on Snyder’s claims by saying that he’s heard from reliable sources that the cut’s definitely a thing. Well on Sunday, Momoa claimed to have actually watched the Snyder Cut, which he says is “ssssiiicccckkkkkk.”
Here’s an odd video where Momoa thanks Snyder for giving him the chance to be Aquaman while gifting him a camera. In the caption, he makes the claim about watching the Snyder cut, and it’s a real lovefest.
So what does all of this mean? Well in all likelihood, this will only fuel already existing fan calls to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut on social media, which is what they’ve been doing since the introduction of new Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff. Still, Kevin Smith previously warned that that the cut probably won’t surface publicly anytime soon, given that much of its content is plagued by rough and unfinished special effects. It appears that Smith and Momoa have different outlooks on such matters, but that was probably a given. And Snyder fans should probably be careful for what they wish for, since his critics will happily pounce upon anything that does surface in less-than-finished condition.