The Hawaiian star, along with cast members such as New Zealand’s Temuera Morrison, kicked off the performance by striding before the press and fans with his trident.
For the next two minutes, the group danced to “Ka Mate,” a Māori haka dance, perhaps most popularized by New Zealand rugby team All Blacks.
Speaking to James Corden at the “Late Late Show,” Momoa said that the idea came from “a bunch of different people” including himself, who thought that it would honor Polynesian culture.
“Warner Bros. was pretty excited about it, [and] obviously I’m very close to it. I’ve made our own Haka for my family and my children were out there with me,” Momoa said. “We based the character around Polynesian culture and thought it would be honoring a lot of people by doing it.”
Haka is a ceremonial, posture dance performed by tribes in Māori culture. Traditionally used on the battlefield, it includes actions such as “violent foot-stamping, tongue protrusions and rhythmic body slappingto accompany a loud chant,” the official New Zealand tourism website notes.
Needless to say, Momoa and his co-stars’ performance was an instant hit on social media.
The “Aquaman” cast’s haka, however, is not the first to happen in Hollywood. Dwayne Johnson also did one in “The Fate of the Furious,” when his character leads his daughter’s soccer team before a match.
Interestingly, Momoa’s one-of-a-kind red carpet performance occurred just as the movie hit a pre-sales record with Atom Tickets, besting “Deadpool 2,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther,” Variety reported. Atom Tickets is the exclusive ticketing platform for Amazon Prime’s advance screening of “Aquaman” on Saturday.
“Clearly, ‘Aquaman’ has captured the attention of movie fans with its larger-than-life adventure that must be seen on the big screen,” said Matthew Bakal, chairman and co-founder of the platform.
Many people might not know this, but NextShark is a small media startup that runs on no outside funding or loans, and with no paywalls or subscription fees, we rely on help from our community and readers like you.
Everything you see today is built by Asians, for Asians to help amplify our voices globally and support each other. However, we still face many difficulties in our industry because of our commitment to accessible and informational Asian news coverage.
We hope you consider making a contribution to NextShark so we can continue to provide you quality journalism that informs, educates, and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for supporting NextShark and our community.