An award-winning DC legend didn’t hold back while giving his verdict on Jason Momoa’s portrayal of Lobo in Supergirl. The Czarnian bounty hunter made his live-action debut in the second film of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe reboot, with plenty of fanfare surrounding the casting before he even appeared on screen. Unfortunately for Momoa, his dream role’s arrival came with baggage as Supergirl stumbled with critics and at the box office, and now one of DC’s biggest icons is slamming his portrayal of the character.
Comic Book legend Grant Morrison, writing in his latest Xanaduum newsletter, delivered a scathing assessment of Momoa’s Lobo performance in Supergirl, calling it “one of the worst”he’s ever seen in a film. He was kinder to Millie Alcock’s take on Kara Zor-El, though, saying “she did a credible job,” and noted that the movie “wasn’t terrible” but also “wasn’t especially great”:
“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.”
Morrison also had notes on where the film’s story went wrong, arguing the “plot fell apart in Act 2”:
“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!”
For fans unfamiliar with Morrison, he’s not just another famous name tossing out a review. His opinion carries a lot of importance given how impactful his work is in the comic book world. He’s the writer behind comics like Doom Patrol, Arkham Asylum, JLA, All-Star Superman, 52, Final Crisis, Animal Man, Batman and Robin, Batman Incorporated, Action Comics, The Multiversity, and The Green Lantern with artist Liam Sharp.
The legend also co-created Damian Wayne, wrote Marvel’s New X-Men, and has won the coveted Eisner Award multiple times. The review may surprise some, as many viewers singled out Momoa’s Lobo as one of the film’s best parts even as it performed woefully at the box office and drew harsh reviews from critics. Supergirl grossed just $126.4 million worldwide against a reported production budget in the $170–186 million range.
Although Morrison was disappointed by Lobo’s live-action debut, he was far more positive about a property he’s had plenty of influence on himself: Green Lantern. The comic icon weighed in on HBO’s Lanterns, currently one of the most-watched superhero shows on streaming, declaring, “Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre are great”:
“Lanterns. Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre are great. I didn’t care for the Hannibal Lectering 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, while 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. So shove that up your green ring, clickbait creators!”
The praise is an interesting switch because when Lanterns premiered, Morrison was one of its biggest critics, joking that Chandler “wasn’t any Hal Jordan I recognised” and that “willpower and booze don’t mix.” The show winning over since is perhaps the strongest endorsement it could ask for.
Lanterns premiered on HBO on August 16 and has aired six of its eight episodes, with the finale set for October 4. The series follows John Stewart and Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops pulled into a murder investigation in the American heartland. So far, the story has escalated to levels many comic book fans didn’t expect.
Hal Jordan is seemingly dead, and the series appears to be hiding another Manhunter after John Stewart killed Zoe Maccon, the first one. With only two episodes left, there’s still plenty of mystery unresolved, which has viewers eagerly counting down to Sunday evenings.
