Jason Momoa Fought For 2 Perfect Lobo Design Changes

Jason Momoa waited years to play Lobo, and once he won the role in Supergirl, he treated the character’s design with the same care as his performance, fighting for two perfect design changes. The actor, who first played Aquaman for DC, takes on the foul-mouthed alien bounty hunter in director Craig Gillespie’s film, which reaches theaters on June 26. Fresh details from the set show how closely Momoa worked on the Main Man's on-screen appearance.

At Momoa’s request, the production made two changes to Lobo’s costume, according to costume designer Michael Mooney. Momoa pushed for a far bigger chain around Lobo’s neck, and he asked for claws on the gloves. Both came together late in the process, and both make the bounty hunter look meaner. The input also shows how much say Momoa had over a character he plans to keep playing across the DCU. 

Mooney spoke to ComicBook during a visit to the Supergirl set, explaining that the team pushed Lobo’s look closer to his comic book roots. He said they lowered the spikes on the shoulders because large spikes are tricky to film around an actor. Momoa influenced the design of Lobo's gloves, asking that claws be added to the tips.

Then the chain grew bigger. The team already had a hefty chain around Lobo’s neck, but Momoa wanted something heavier. He compared it to his own everyday gear, telling the crew, "I’ve got bigger chains on my wallet."

"He at the last minute said, 'I think I should have claws.' So we made those at the last minute. We had that chain around his neck, which was a pretty big chain. And then he said, 'I’ve got bigger chains on my wallet.' So we went a lot bigger with that. Then we added the grenade on it. We had a few different, some of the other Lobo symbols, but then Craig said, 'Oh yeah, let’s put the grenade on it.'"

Recent clips from the film matched the description, showing Momoa on Lobo’s space motorcycle with a large grenade resting against his chest. The chain itself works as more than jewelry and makes him look more menacing.

Supergirl follows Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El, who travels across the galaxy with her dog Krypto and meets Momoa’s Lobo along the way. Momoa championed the part with James Gunn and Peter Safran early in their DC Studios run, and he calls Lobo the role he always wanted. 

Jason Momoa’s Changes to Lobo’s Design Make the Character Perfect 

Lobo has always been one of the most intimidating figures in DC Comics. The last Czarnian is a hulking, ultra-violent bounty hunter who chases contracts across the galaxy and has gone toe to toe with Superman himself. His menace comes through in his look as much as his body count. 

The spikes, the black leather, the wild hair, the hooked axe, and his sheer size all depict a brawler nobody wants to cross. Any live-action version needs to project a threat the moment he appears, and Momoa’s additions aim straight at that goal. 

The new accessories push that danger even further. A heavier chain, weighed down by a frag grenade, makes Lobo look like someone who has walked through plenty of fights and enjoyed every one. 

The claws on his gloves turn his hands into a threat before he even swings, hinting at the damage he can do up close. Small as they sound on paper, these touches give the eye something vicious to catch in every frame he occupies. 

This aggressive design is perfect for a live-action debut. This is the first time audiences will see Lobo on the big screen, and first impressions influence how fans perceive him for years. A design this menacing marks him instantly as a real danger standing across from Milly Alcock’s Kara, not a goofy sidekick. 

It helps that Momoa has the frame and the presence to portray an oversized, spiked-out look that would swallow a smaller actor. It's no surprise that Momoa fought for these design changes for Lobo. He loves and understands the character, and come June 26, his performance is likely to wow a new generation of fans who aren’t familiar with Lobo.