Grant Morrison has been catching up with the DCU, and while the legendary comic book writer has warmed considerably to Lanterns, Jason Momoa’s Lobo in Supergirl definitely didn’t win him over. In fact, Morrison went so far as to call Momoa’s performance “one of the worst” he’s ever seen in a movie.
The All-Star Superman writer recently shared his latest thoughts on DC Studios’ projects, revisiting Lanterns after initially criticizing the series for taking a “low-fi route” with the Green Lantern Corps.
After watching more episodes, Morrison’s opinion has shifted. He now has plenty of praise for Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, calling both actors “great” as Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Morrison explained: “I didn’t care for the Hannibal Lecter-ing of Sinestro, but otherwise the show has picked up nicely, and the approach has worked, so good on them. Otherwise, I’ve grown to love the more nuanced Hal Jordan Kyle Chandler is delivering.”
He also praised the development of Pierre’s John Stewart and found more purpose in the way Chandler has been playing Hal:
“Pierre’s John Stewart has developed impressively as a character, with every episode cracking him out of his regimented shell while Hal’s reckless drunken bum routine is revealed as useful misdirection. I’ll watch until the end, but it’s probably not worth having any more opinions about the show until then.”
That’s a major turnaround from Morrison’s initial reaction to Lanterns. He may have questioned the show’s stripped-down approach at first, but it sounds like the characters and performances have won him over as the story has progressed.
His reaction to DC Studios’ Supergirl wasn’t nearly as positive. Morrison thought Milly Alcock delivered the movie’s strongest material as Supergirl and gave her credit for the performance. The rest of the film didn’t land nearly as well for him, particularly Jason Momoa as Lobo.
That’s surprising considering Momoa and Lobo seemed like a natural combination. Morrison was looking forward to seeing the former Aquaman actor unleash his version of the Main Man, but what he saw left him baffled.
Morrison said: “I watched Supergirl, which wasn’t terrible but wasn’t especially great either. All the best and most moving scenes involved Millie Alcock, and I thought she did a credible job.
“Jason Momoa, who I was actually looking forward to, was very disappointing as Lobo. It was, in fact, one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in a film and quite baffling, as I know Momoa’s not usually that bad and Lobo seems like a character made for him to play. Go figure.”
That’s a brutal assessment, especially coming from someone who went into Supergirl expecting Momoa to be a good fit for the character.
Lobo wasn’t Morrison’s only problem with the movie. He also took issue with Krem of the Yellow Hills and argued that one of the film’s central problems involving Krypto could have been solved far more easily than the story suggested:
“Then the whole plot fell apart in Act 2 – all Supergirl had to do was bring Krypto with her to that yellow sun world, and the sun’s rays would have made the dog invulnerable again, easily able to shake off any toxin.
“They needn’t have bothered chasing after the dull and low-level Romanian gangster baddie, Krem of the Yellow Hills, to get the antidote after all!”
Morrison’s complaints add another interesting perspective to the conversation surrounding Supergirl, which received mixed reviews and finished its theatrical run with $126.4 million worldwide.
Considering how perfectly suited Momoa seemed to be for Lobo, calling his performance one of the worst Morrison has ever seen is about as rough a review as the actor could get. I just think the character was completely handled wrong. Lobo needed to be the main villain in the story.
Source: Substack
