Actor Jason Momoa has opened up on playing Aquaman on the big screen, and some personal reasons he's excited to take on the enduring DC Comics hero. In an interview with The Daily Beast focused partly on his role in TV miniseries "The Red Road," Momoa described a connection he sees between Aquaman and his Hawaiian heritage, and the excitement he has for bringing greater diversity to the world of live-action superheroes.

"Aquaman is especially cool because being a Kanaka Maoli -- being Hawaiian -- our Gods are Kanaloa and Maui, and the Earth is 71 percent water, so I get to represent that," Momoa told The Daily Beast. "And I'm someone who gets to represent all the islanders, not some blond-haired superhero. It's cool that there's a brown-skinned superhero."

Momoa talked how his Aquaman role -- previously reported to be a four-film deal -- helps bring stability to his career, given the long-term prospects of acting in a superhero movie franchise.

"It's awesome as an actor to know what your future is going to be because I have children and I've busted my ass to put food on the table," Momoa said in the interview. "It's awesome knowing that I'm going to be in 'Justice League' because my son is the biggest Batman fan and my daughter loves Wonder Woman. It'll be cool for them to see me in something because they're not going to be watching 'Game of Thrones' or 'Red Road' anytime soon, but now they can see Daddy kicking ass in IMAX."

Momoa is expected to first appear as Aquaman in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," before appearing in the 2017 "Justice League" film, and headlining his own "Aquaman" movie in 2018.