A new lease on life for the Green Lantern comics?
THE Green Lantern Corps might be the last group you would expect to rescue Warner Bros/DC Entertainment’s sometimes-polarising attempts to build a connected liveaction movie universe.
But with David S Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel) and Justin Rhodes now set to write Green Lantern Corps, WB/DC is signalling its realisation that the Green Lantern comics still hold vast storytelling potential.
It has been six years since Green Lantern derailed DC’s schedule for building a connected movie universe. Green Lantern (with Ryan Reynolds donning the title costume) was such a bomb that it sparked doubts that DC would ever be able to match Marvel’s cinematic universe.
So how can Green Lantern Corps become everything that Green Lantern wasn’t? First, it comes down to personnel. Geoff Johns’s new role as president of DC Entertainment is a start. Johns was involved with the production of Green Lantern, but he lacked the power that his current position brings.
Johns recently posted a tweet that hinted at his eagerness to fire up the Green Lantern again: “In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night…”
Johns has written some of the most critically acclaimed Green Lantern books of the past decade.
Plus, Johns’s Blackest Night and Brightest Day storylines introduced the idea of a spectrum of emotions – each one having a respective power ring similar to the rings worn by the Green Lanterns.
Johns’s Brightest Day/Blackest Night tweet could also hint at potential plots for a Green Lantern Corps film. He is the ideal person to guide Goyer and Rhodes toward comics source material that not only can best be adapted, but that also could please hardcore fans still disappointed by Green Lantern’s first movie foray.
The confirmed appearance in Green Lantern Corps of Green Lantern John Stewart – perhaps DC Comics’s highest-profile black superhero – should buoy the movie, especially considering how many fans are familiar with the character through Cartoon Network’s Justice League animated series.
Emmy award-winner Sterling K Brown (The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story) has a role in Marvel’s highly anticipated Black Panther. The This Is Us actor tweeted that he would like to be considered a candidate to play John Stewart.
Stewart’s cinematic introduction could also pave the way for more of Earth’s Green Lanterns to appear in future Green Lantern Corps movies – including Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz.
Perhaps the biggest shame of the 2011 film’s failure was that two apt actors were wasted.
Ryan Reynolds – who has since moved so winningly on to Deadpool – had everything fans could want from Hal Jordan: looks, wit, protein shake-fuelled triceps – and a deep desire to make a good superhero movie. And an even bigger loss was that of Mark Strong’s performance as Sinestro, the rogue Green Lantern turned foe. His Sinestro was Green Lantern’s lone highlight.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great comic books for Johns, Goyer and Rhodes to construct a great cinematic story from.
And with that creative corps in place, the potential for a sharp, high-energy film is high. – The Washington Post