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James Gunn's revamped DC universe is set to bring plenty of new faces to the movie and TV screen in the near future, with one of those reportedly being Lobo played by Jason Momoa. Despite already having multiple appearances as Aquaman, the news of Momoa potentially playing the last Czarnian was met with largely positive feedback from fans online, who felt the alien bounty hunter was a better fit for Momoa than the King of Atlantis.
But who exactly is The Ultimate Bastich of DC Comics?
A Lobo of many looks
Lobo made his comic debut as a dangerous villain in Omega Man #3 in June 1983, sporting a vastly different look compared to what audiences would later associate with him. While he still had his chalk-white skin and blood-red eyes, the suit was a mix of bright purple and orange along with a neatly-trimmed haircut. Lobo would make a handful of appearances in the Omega Man comics before falling into a proverbial limbo until 1990, when he was given a drastic redesign.
Artist Simon Bisley, along with writers Alan Grant and Keith Griffin, reimagined Lobo as part of a standalone 4-issue miniseries centered on this new version of the character. The trimmed haircut and multi-color suit would be replaced with wildly long, straggly black hair inspired by heavy metal stars of the '80s and black leather biker gear. He could also be commonly seen smoking a cigar, riding through the galaxy on what is basically a Harley-Davidson space motorcycle.
Lobo would undergo various alterations in the following years, but the popularity of the reboot look ensured any changes fell inl-ine with what Bisley established in the 1990 comic.
The Last Czarnian
Along with the rebooted look, Grant and Griffin would craft a new backstory for Lobo that was as absurd and over-the-top as possible to fit the comedic and violent nature of the character.
Lobo was born on the planet Czarnia, a paradise that had never known war and where the people were virtually immortal. Czarnia thrived for thousands of years as its society worked together to ensure all those on the planet lived as fruitful and happy a life as possible…then Lobo was born.
He proved to be a menace almost immediately, driving his nurse insane when he was still an infant, and it would only get worse from there. While Lobo was immortal like any other Czarnian, his arrogance and ruthlessness made him the complete antithesis of everyone else on his homeworld. He would menace his fellow Czarnians throughout childhood until, as part of his “science project,” he created a swarm of small mechanical scorpions he instructed to kill everyone on the planet except for himself.
The plan was successful and left Lobo as the last Czarnian in existence. He also gave himself an ‘A' for his work on his science project.
After leaving Czarnia, Lobo grew to become one of the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy thanks to his penchant for extreme violence. He wasn't without some sense of honor, though, as he would typically engage his bounties head-on and always honored the letter of his agreements.
Lobo's hunts would eventually take him to Earth, where DC's many heroes regularly took issue with his violent tendencies. Superman emerged as Lobo's regular and most prominent opponent, as he was one of the only heroes who could go blow-for-blow with Lobo in a fistfight due to Superman's near-invulnerability and Lobo's ability to regenerate from seemingly anything. The two would eventually form a begrudging respect for one another and even, on occasion, team together to take out threats too strong for either of them to battle alone.
Beyond the comic panel
The popularity of Lobo's 1990 reboot did not go unnoticed, as the character would soon find himself jumping off the comic book page and onto the screen.
It began with Warner Bros. and DC's original animated universe, with Lobo debuting as part of Superman: The Animated Series. His first appearance saw Lobo hired by an alien looking to add Superman to its collection of rare or endangered species. While successful, he ended up helping Superman defeat the alien after it attempted to capture Lobo when it learned he was the last of his species as well.
Lobo made sporadic appearances from then on in Superman: The Animated Series and its sequel series, Justice League. He would make additional appearances in other DC cartoons as time went on, including Young Justice and Justice League Action.
His first live-action appearance, though, came during season 2 of the SyFy series Krypton, as portrayed by Irish actor Emmett J. Scanlan. Unlike the comic, this version of Lobo was not responsible for wiping out Czarnia and was instead hunting Brainiac, who had collected Czarnia's capital city along with its denizens before destroying the rest of the planet. A Lobo spin-off was reportedly in-development following his debut but ultimately wouldn't move forward after Krypton's cancellation.
From Main Man to leading man?
As for Lobo's future, it looks like the Main Man could have a bright one as part of the new DC cinematic universe under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran. The pair have already announced a slate of new films and series as part of this reboot, including Superman Legacy, Batman: The Brave and The Bold, Lanterns, and more. It has left the future of several actors attached to the DC Extended Universe in a sort of limbo, but it appears one may be sticking around as this new universe's Lobo.
It was reported Jason Momoa was in talks to trade in Aquaman's trident for Lobo's bike and space as part of this new DC cinematic universe. The news was met with almost universal praise from fans, some of whom argued for a long time that Momoa would make a better Lobo than Aquaman.
While there was no news about a standalone film or series, it was suggested his first appearance could be in Superman: Legacy starring David Corenswet as the titular hero and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. The film is already confirmed to feature cameos from other DC characters as well, such as Guy Gardner, to be played by Nathan Fillion, and Isabel Merced's Hawkgirl.
