The Justice League movie will bring together some of the DC world's finest on November 17, but one pair of heroes may have crossed paths much earlier. Fans have long theorized that Aquaman saved Superman during the events of Man of Steel, and if what Jason Momoa says is true, then the hypothesis is correct.
Speaking to DC All Access, Momoa said that Justice League and Man of Steel director Zack Snyder told the actor the intention was always that Aquaman and Superman had a previous run-in. "In Man of Steel when Henry [Cavill]’s on the oil rig, he’s holding that up and then all of a sudden you see him up on the ocean ... [Zack] was like, 'I had Aquaman save him so that they did cross paths at one point.' So when Bruce goes, ‘You ever heard of [Superman]?’, I have and we have crossed paths." (Skip to 4:52)
As Momoa said, the theory hinges on the oil rig scene. If you're having trouble remembering the specifics of that bit, here's how it goes down: the oil rig Kal-El has been working on goes down in flames, and he sacrifices himself to save his fellow workers. He falls into the ocean, drifting out of consciousness, when two whales appear. Next thing we know, Supes is fine and running back to civilization.
Some took the whales' presence as a subtle nod to Aquaman, back when an interconnected DC cinematic universe was but a twinkle in Warner Bros. eye. Whether the whales acted on Aquaman's behalf or simply warned him of the rig's collapse is still unclear, but maybe we'll see things from the King of Atlantis' perspective in the Aquaman movie coming in 2018.
