There had been rumors for some time that DC and Warner Bros. were considering introducing Aquaman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. And those rumors only ramped up when Director Zack Snyder called into a Detroit based talk-radio show last week to stick up for the oft maligned sea-dwelling superhero.

In defense of Aquaman, Snyder said:

The cool thing is, with Aquaman his trident (people don’t realize this) that could cut the flesh of Superman, if they come in contact. That’s a thing that’s in the canon. He’s super strong. Because of course he can exist at these super deep depths. So when he comes up here he’s crazy strong. Not to say he’s in my movie, or anything like that. He has the potential to be badass. That’s all I’m saying.

Now we know Snyder was also saying that yes, Aquaman is in Batman v. Superman. Not only that, but he will get a stand alone film. The role of Aquaman will be played by none other than Khal Drogo himself, Jason Momoa. Aquaman, generally speaking, lacks a certain cinematic heaviness and seriousness. Casting Drogo is one way of combating that, I suppose.

It can’t feel reassuring to Snyder and WB to have planned a movie around a character only to hear him mocked as one of the more risible heroes available to DC.

Warner Bros. has hired two writers for the project, who will not be co-writing the film, Variety reports, but rather “writing separate scripts with the studio hoping for the best version to come out of this strategy.” Okay.

Aquaman represents another step DC’s film expansion, which is building itself out of Batman v. Superman, which will also introduce Wonder Woman and Cyborg. Aquaman is the first to be announced for a solo film.