Lionsgate

There’s One DC Hero Alan Ritchson Refuses to Play

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Kyle Anderson | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 2:38 PM ET

One of the most fun aspects of a new cinematic universe is the prospect of what actors will play which iconic hero or villain. The DCU already has a great deal of characters with only a couple of productions, but fans won’t be satisfied until they have the entire Justice League (et al). We recently told you that Alan Ritchson, for many the fan-fave to play Batman, would not indeed play the Dark Knight. He was, however, very open to playing other DC characters. Like whom? Well the Reacher star is ruling out another member of the JLA. He refuses to play Aquaman.

Now, before you all lose your cool, he doesn’t have a problem with Aquaman. Ritchson is not saying he won’t play Arthur Curry because fish are slimy and gross. He just doesn’t want to step on Jason Momoa’s toes.

Speaking to Liamlovesmovies (which we saw via ComicBook.com), Ritchson explained he’d never “take that” from Jason Momoa. He has too much respect for him, he says. Now, I’m not sure Ritchson is aware that Momoa practically begged to play Lobo in the new DCU, thus vacating his Aquaman role specifically, but there we go.

Alan Ritchson talks about joining James Gunn's DCU

(Via Liamlovesmovies) pic.twitter.com/vvQPdOzh0r
— DCU PRIME TV (@DCUPRIMETV) September 7, 2025

Luckily for Ritchson and for us, the DC universe has roughly 19 billion more towering beef castles for him to play. Seriously, look at the size of that guy. Huge.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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