How Jason Momoa's Stargate Atlantis Role Helped Him Become An Action Star

Everyone is saying the same thing about Jason Momoa's Lobo ahead of the release of "Supergirl," but long before he was a DC Universe action star, the actor embraced the genre on the beloved sci-fi TV classic "Stargate Atlantis." Introduced initially as a guest star in Season 2's "Runner," Momoa was immediately promoted to the main cast as Ronon Dex, becoming a series staple for the remainder of its five-season run. Indeed, it was "SGA" that truly pushed Momoa into the action sphere, a time of his life that he described to MovieZine as being "very much like college."

While promoting his latest action-comedy "The Wrecking Crew," Momoa reflected on his time as Ronon on the hit "Stargate" spin-off. "It was four years of my life — you do 22 episodes, roughly takes about nine months out of the year, and you're pretty much dedicated to that," he explained. With only about a "week and a half" to shoot each new episode (including action-heavy hours like Season 3's "Sateda" or Season 4's "Midway"), the fast-paced environment of "SGA" prepared him for the heavy demands of blockbuster filmmaking.

"As far as action goes, that was when I was really cutting my teeth," Momoa noted about the Sci-Fi Channel series. "It gave me a time to grow as an actor and obviously learn all the things I wanted to do as a stunt [performer] — like samurai films and all these things that I loved when I was a kid." For the future "Aquaman" star, "Stargate Atlantis" was foundational to his understanding of the industry and the physical demands of stunt work.

After the unfortunate cancellation of "Stargate Atlantis," Momoa balanced his time between the small and big screens, appearing in action flicks like "Conan the Barbarian" and "Bullet to the Head," as well as prestigious fantasy dramas like "Game of Thrones." The latter propelled his career to superheroic proportions, directly influencing Zack Snyder's decision to cast Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe. After a cameo in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," he returned as the now King of Atlantis for "Justice League," "Aquaman," and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom."

While Momoa's time as Aquaman has since come to an end, the star is one of the few DCEU holdouts to cross over into James Gunn's new DC Universe brand. Of course, Momoa found other success beyond Atlantis as well, with shows like "The Red Road," "Frontier," "See," and his own AppleTV series "Chief of War." He's also starred in major franchise films like "Dune," "Fast X," and "A Minecraft Movie." No doubt, without "Stargate Atlantis," Momoa's career may have taken a completely different turn.

"The sci-fi community has just been like the best and always helped and rooted for me," Momoa told MovieZine. It's no wonder then that he looks back on his time as Ronon Dex so fondly (except for the one thing he hated about the character). Indeed, aside from reuniting "SGA" cast members David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay) and Joe Flanigan (Col. John Sheppard) for several episodes on "See," Momoa's Guinness commercial doubled as a "Stargate Atlantis" reunion. You can take the man out of Atlantis, but you can't stop him from returning every chance he gets.