Monday, October 19, 2009

Green Lantern Casting Rumors and Thoughts


I didn’t really have much faith, and still struggle a bit, with the idea of a Green Lantern movie. Of course I want it to happen and I hope it will be as great as it could be, but something inside of me knows that it is a massive undertaking that is going to be a challenge.


Not only is it a superhero movie, but its also a sci fi movie. Its massive in its scope and touching in its humanity. It will require half the film to be CG and the other half to be prosthetics or animatronics. I think it treated with care and respect, a Green Lantern movie has the potential to be the great defining film of the DC Universe that the JLA movie was trying to be. Green Lanterns are cops that police the DCU and often feature many of DC’s hero stable. So this really opens up opportunities for DC to create the franchise mosaic that Marvel is doing for the Avengers.


Even with Ryan Renolds as Hal Jordan, I feel somewhat hesitant to believe that this film will be good. I like Ryan and I think he is a great pick but I just think that he could also bring a campy sort of humor that will sink such a serious and dark character and series.


Alas, some of my faith has been restored with the rumor of Jackie Earle Haley being cast as Sinestro. Jackie brings a level of credibility that I think could take the film to the right level. He can be dark, calculating, and smart all while keeping it inside. I think he would be perfect for Sinestro that will eventually turn into the main villain of the series. He even somewhat looks the part. The only thing is that he is really short and Sinestro is supposed to be tall. Whatever. I originally was thinking of someone like Danial Day-Lewis or Hugo Weaving but they are a stretch I think.


The other piece of news is that the film is looking to draw mostly from Secret Origin, Geoff Johns’ retelling of Hal Jordan’s earliest adventure which completely reshapes the GL mythos and sets the stage for Blackest Night. If they do this, Green Lantern has the potential to be my favorite comic book movie. The story is perfect by itself but it leaves the door open for a dark future.


Oh yeah, and one other thing. It is rumored that Superman makes a cameo which is fucking awesome. That is the thing that DC’s films lack. Unity. Hopefully Green Lantern can bring them together.

2 comments:

  1. Good article, Kevin. I hope this movie is good. It's such a cool character, one of DC's best by far. I read an article stating that they want to approach all of their films with the level of seriousness and "darkness" to which Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were approached. My only hope is that this is not a superficial, "If we just make it dark that will make it good" mindset, because that's not true. It can only be good if it's good. The level of special effects required for this one makes me a little frightened, in terms of the approach the filmmakers take and the quality of the effects, plus the fact that Reynolds is also Deadpool irks me.

    A Superman cameo would be great. They should be willing to do things like that, and make it more of a scene that actually affects the plot as opposed to a fan-appeasing cameo, something like what they did with Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek.

    Here's hoping it's good.

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  2. Agreed, about Superman. Especially since a lot of Superman's enemies are also big GL enemies like Superboy-Prime, Cyborg Superman, and Mongol.

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