So, uh, given their history as ascended, are Arclight Varus and Justicar Aatrox their former look?

I don't know but i'm totally going to accept this as canon.

Even before the lore update, wasn't Arclight Varus considered his form before corruption ? As for Aatrox, the lore description looks a lot like Justicar.

I feel like if they were supposed to be considered canon, that would have been put in the bios for those skins along with everything else in this update. Since they weren't updated like that, I feel like they're just part of the Arclight universe.

Doubt it considering that they used to be ascendeds. And the ascended usually look like animal-human hybrids.

I'd say no. What Aatrox looks like now is a form he's become after taking over mortal bodies. He's trying to look like he did before he was bound to the weapon, but the story says he's still "UNRECOGNIZABLE" to his former image. THAT BEING SAID, Justicar Aatrox still looks very similar to the default Darkin Aatrox. As for Varus.. no ascended keep their mortal form. Varus is the fusion of 2 mortal bodies so he looks human. Arclight Varus still has the human/mortal body so it wouldn't make much sense.

For Aatrox? Maybe. He is said to have had golden wings.

For Varus? No. His current body was an entirely new creation when he was freed.

I'd like to hear some of the writers thoughts on this, because at this point I'd rather rename the Justicar skin line and Varus' skin itself. The whole idea is just too good.