Aquaman may still be two years away, but the DC Extended Universe will introduce Atlantis a little sooner than that. Moviegoers will get their first look at the underwater nation in Justice League, appearing while Aquaman himself joins his fellow superheroes on the surface to fight evil. Fellow Atlanteans Mera (played by Amber Heard) and Vulko (played by Willem Dafoe) will appear alongside him in the present day, but it's also looks like Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju has been added been cast as Atlantean royalty from long ago.
During his set visit in London this past week, Cinema Blend's own Sean O'Connell saw concept art showing Hivju as an ancient Atlantean king. The role is small, but certainly crucial to the plot. As was revealed in today's huge Justice League news drop, the movie will feature a flashback from thousands of years ago where three Mother Boxes were given the humans, Amazonians and Atlanteans. Each group kept their Mother Box safe, but in the present day, Steppenwolf and his Parademon army will come to Earth looking for them, leaving it to the Justice League to find them first.
The Mother Box plot was rumored a couple months ago, but taking into account this new information, it sounds like we'll see Kristofer Hivju's ancient king character receive the Mother Box intended for the Atlanteans. Whether this means he'll see any major action in Justice League remains to be seen, but at least we know he did a good job of making sure it was kept in a secure location until the 2017 DC team-up blockbuster begins. This role may only award the actor a few minutes of screen time, but it's worth noting that during Geoff Johns' run on the Aquaman comic book series, there was a character named Atlan who was the first king of Atlantis and rose from the dead in the present day to attack Aquaman, declaring that the aquatic hero wasn't worthy of sitting on the throne. If this king is meant to be Atlan, that could pave the way for Hivju to return in Aquaman or one of its sequels as a main antagonist, only he'll now be known as The Dead King.
Kristofer Hivju is best known for playing Tormund Giantsbane, one of the lead wildlings, in Game of Thrones since 2013. His other prominent credits include The Thing and After Earth, and he was recently added to Fast 8 as one of the henchman serving Charlize Theron's Cipher. In addition to him, the previously mentioned characters and the main heroes, Justice League's other participants include J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth.
Justice League hits theaters on November 17, 2017.
