Why Justin Hartley Replaced Alan Ritchson As Aquaman In Failed DC Comics TV Series

A decade before Jason Momoa was ruling the seven seas on the silver screen, Mister Jack Reacher himself was portraying Arthur Curry (aka Aquaman) on television.

Fans will likely remember that Alan Ritchson took on the Atlantean mantle in "Smallville." Debuting as the DC hero during the show's fifth season in 2005, Ritchson would go on to appear in three more episodes before the CW series hung up its cape in 2011. Interestingly, shortly after the actor's debut as Arthur Curry, Warner Bros. Television ordered an "Aquaman" pilot starring future "Tracker" star Justin Hartley, not Ritchson.

Fifteen years after the CW show's end, "Smallville" creators and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have offered some insight as to why Ritchson was never cast in the pilot. Speaking with ScreenRant, the writing duo seemed to chalk up the decision to a matter of experience. While acknowledging the heights Ritchson would excel to later in his career, they pointed to his lack of acting credits and the fact that "Smallville" was his very first role.

"I mean, I think it was something where you're looking at the time of who can carry a series," Gough explained. "[W]hen we put Aquaman in the show, we weren't thinking of a spinoff at that point." Millar then clarified that: "[I]n terms of casting, there was definitely, not pressure, but people wanted us to look wider. That was definitely the word. I think Alan had just started acting, and I didn't necessarily think there was a sense that he could lead a show at that point in his career. So that was definitely where we were."

As DC fans know, Justin Hartley's "Aquaman" pilot was never picked up, but the actor would join "Smallville" as Oliver Queen and appear in over 70 episodes as the Emerald Archer. As for Ritchson never being brought on for the "Aquaman" pilot, the actor has more or less expressed the same sentiment as Gough and Millar.

In 2022, Ritchson appeared on Michael Rosenbaum's "Inside of You" podcast. During the episode, the "Reacher" star admitted that while he was initially approached about the possibility of starring in the "Aquaman" pilot, the offer was never official, and his lack of filmography made certain network execs uneasy. Regarding the whole situation, Ritchson concluded that: "I learned the best lesson I could early on to hold loosely to this stuff because nothing is guaranteed and nothing's owed to me. If I hadn't learned that lesson early I would have been an entitled a**hole."

For anyone who wants to take a dive into the actor's filmography, be sure to check out TVLine's ranking of Alan Ritchson's five greatest shows (that aren't "Reacher").