Jason Momoa had to play “Aquaman” a bunch of times, put in his time in “Dune” and “Fast and Furious” movies and muscle through a season of “Game of Thrones” to build up the clout it took to get “Chief of War,” a unification of Hawaii epic close to his heritage and his heart, on the screen.

And while he might have been more age appropriate during his “Conan the Barbarian” years for his role as a brawny, young war chief of Maui forced to flee a power-mad king to save the island chain from despotism, he still makes a riveting Polynesian man-mountain to build this epic series around.

“Chief of War” is more “Shogun” than “Game of Thrones” — sprawling, East meets West conflict, bloodline intrigues and slashing violence, more scenic than sexual. And Momoa, who co-created, co-wrote and stars in it, ably and easily carries it from Kaua’i to O’ahu, Maui to Hawai’i, Alaska all the way to the Spanish colonial port of Zamboanga.

Chases, battles, and back-stabbings aside, it’s a somewhat lumbering affair, burdened by constant changes of scene and a sea of characters played by less familiar actors that one must keep straight in most every setting. But Momoa and iconic Maori actor Temuera Morrison (“Once Were Warriors,” Boba Fett to “Star Wars” fans, and Aquaman’s dad) as the Chief of War and his megalomanical Maui King Kahekili are able anchors in helping it all make sense.

We meet Ka’iana (Momoa) and his extended family on “quiet” 18th century Kaua’i, where these Maui natives have fled as he decided he could not serve the “prophecy of the bird star” (comet) obsessed king as his war chief. King Kahekili sends an armed party led by the more loyal war chief Namake (Te Kohe Tuhaka) to “summon” Ka’iana.

Ka’iana must be convinced that O’ahu is prepping for war with Maui. But his plan to spare the combatants lots of bloodshed is undermined by slaughter and he realizes this is just part of Kahekili’s plan to unite the island kingdoms under a “chosen one” — himself.

Ka’iana, his brother (Siua Ikale’o) and wife (Te Ao o Hinepehinga) flee, with the chief of war leading their pursuers away from his loved ones. He is destined to be hunted, chased off the islands, rescued by fur traders, taken to Alaska and taught the ways of the “paleskin” and their (English) language and firearms, forced to scheme a way back home and a way to supply an army with muskets to resist the spreading tyranny of Kahekili.

Meanwhile, Ka’ahumanu (Luciane Buchanan of “The Night Agent” and “The New Legends of Monkey”), stumbles across the fleeing Ka’iana before she faces her ever-delayed destiny, a “political” marriage on Hawai’i. She learns English from a paleskin castaway (Benjamin Hoetjes) taken in by her community and puts-off her war chief father’s (Moses Goods) wedding plans for her every way she can.

But the warrior whose wives she is destined to join has a name anyone familiar with Hawaiian history before Don Ho and “Hawaii 5-0.” He is Kamehameha (Kaina Makua), the truest part of this “based on real events” story. And his destiny lies beyond his conflict with his paranoid newly-crowned king (the great Maori character actor Cliff Curtis of the “Walking Dead,” “Avatar” and “Fast and Furious” franchises, and Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine”) and even the predations of Kahekili.

“Chief of War” doesn’t dwell much on the culture clash of the years just after Captain Cook’s ill-fated last trip to Hawai’i. That’s reflected in the unknowns cast in those “paleskin” roles. Momoa and co-creator Thomas Pa’a Sibbett touch on island language — the series is mostly in Hawaian with subtitles, especially in the early eposides — culture, traditions, combat and the universality of 18th century gender roles as Ka’ahumanu debates the English castaway about “gods” that “only men” hear that keep women servile.

She bridles at her father’s insistence that her intervention and counsel is unwanted by the scheming men.

“Your place is with the wives.”

Destiny is a big theme, with a priestess (Roimata Fox) appearing to several characters, fortelling their fates.

“Many paths lead to misery for you. Only one leads to freedom…The Guardian will come!”

The script has its simplistic touches and obvious contrivances. Romance is minimized, with one warrior carrying on a same sex affair before pursuing a more politically astute “match.” A character insisting on “English” from her older and highly-placed father after she herself has mastered the language from the castaway “one year later” is a real eye-roller.

And early chases and skirmishes aside, the series only finds its footing in the most conventional way when the outraged Ka’iana sets out to free a Black shipmate (James Udom) from slavery in a scene straight out of half of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. That’s four episodes in.

There’s plenty of judgement of the white capitalists who threatened Hawai’i, even before this war to unite the islands.

“Common or royal, it makes no difference in a land where money is esteemed above all.”

Buchanan, Morrison, Fox and Sisa Grey, as an islander who took up a new life among the Spaniards and allies herself with Ka’iana, are stand-outs in the cast, with Curtis, Udom, Tuhaka and Ikale’o also making impressions.

But Momoa, a hulking specimen even in his dad-bod years (he turned 46 this month), is the riveting, scowling prescence who holds our interest and this sprawling and historically respectful narrative together.

This is Hawaii as the paradise it was before “paradise” became its travel brand, and this series reminds us of how the adaptable and fiercely independent people there were able to maintain their independence until rich fruit growers and imperialists teamed up to take it over some 100 years later.

Rating: TV-MA, violence, nudity, sex

Cast: Jason Momoa, Lucianne Buchanan, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Te Kohe Tuhaka,
Siua Ikale’o, Sisa Grey, Moses Goods, Benjamin Hoetjes, Erroll Shand, Kaina Makua, Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison.

Credits: Created by Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett. An Apple TV+ release.

Running time: Nine episodes @:41-60 minutes each.