The role was offered to Donnie Yen during the lead up to Zack Snyder helming the ill-fated Justice League movie.
See, Aquaman director James Wan did not get the privilege of casting many of the main parts for his movie, no, that honor was Zack Snyder’s who, in fact, offered a role to martial arts legend Donnie Yen.
Donnie Yen has discussed this offer recently, and surely fans can agree that his inclusion would have been an excellent one.
It is very possible that Donnie Yen was offered the mentor role of Nuidis Vulko, a part that was ultimately played by Willem Dafoe.