2011’s ‘Green Lantern’ was intended to be the springboard for Warner Brothers to launch its own DC Comics movie line, similar to Marvel’s wildly successful franchise.  WB even cast Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller in a role similar to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and hoped to have her reprise the role in subsequent films to weave them together in the same manner.  And considering that ‘GL’ had a post-credit sequence showing the corruption of Mark Strong’s Sinestro, this movie was intended to be the first of many.

Of course no one expected the movie to wind up being a total Green Lan-TURD.  The movie flopped, but WB was still determined to create a super hero universe and wound up building it on 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’ despite that film not doing quite as well financially as was hoped and the fact that it divided audiences with its controversial final battle sequence.

With all of WB’s big plans, which really kick into high gear with next year’s ‘Batman V Superman’, there’s been very little talk of Green Lantern and from the look of things at this point, that hero (or heroes) will be absent from not just that film but 2018’s ‘Justice League – Part One’.  In the comics, Green Lantern, the Hal Jordan version, was a founder of the JL so his absence is significant.

Ryan Reynold and his awful, awful CGI suit in 2011’s ‘Green Lantern’

As of right now, it doesn’t appear that ‘Green Lantern’ will be lighting up movie screens until 2018’s ‘Green Lantern Corps’.  Plans currently call for that film to feature not just Hal Jordan, the character played by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 dud, but fellow Earth GL John Stewart, a character that was first introduced in the 70s as Hal’s alternate, but who has grown to be his own popular and successful character.

Considering that ‘GLC’ won’t be out for roughly five years, a lot could change between now and then, but for the time being, the new film is being described as “Lethal Weapon in space.”  ‘Lethal Weapon’ is, of course, the epitome of the “buddy cop” movie, with Mel Gibson’s reckless loose cannon Martin Riggs getting under the skin of his weary, retirement-ready partner Roger Murtaugh, played by Danny Glover.  The movie was the perfect blend of shoot-’em-up action and laugh out loud comedy, most of whish stemmed from these two mismatched opposites bickering like an old married couple.

This formula would make for a really fresh super hero movie.  ‘Man of Steel’ was criticized for being too bleak and ‘Batman V Superman’ doesn’t exactly look like a laugh riot. And the ‘V’ in the title implies that the friction between the title heroes is a bit more antagonistic than simple banter.  Hopefully as the DC films roll out, we’ll see some diversity in tone and subject matter and from the sound of things, ‘GLC’ could add some levity, without resorting to flat out comedy.

In the comics, Hal is generally shown as being cocky and lackadaisical, while John is a former Marine, so he can be a bit more rigid.  BUT if you go back to the 70s, when Stewart was first introduced, Hal was very much the opposite.  He was a space cop and firmly part of the establishment.  During that time, Stewart was depicted as an anti-authority “angry black man.”  That also opens the door for conflict, although in almost the exact opposite configuration.

Which GL will have which personality?  That remains to be seen.

Unfortunately, ‘GLC’ is so far out, any number of changes could occur.  As far as we know, there’s no script.  There certainly isn’t a director and should a script be completed before one is found, it’s not unlikely that this director could completely alter or even throw out this script/treatment and create something from scratch to match their vision.  That’s not even taking into account the still-unfolding DCCU.  Whatever happens in these films and how audiences react to them could very well impact how WB ends up approaching ‘GLC’.

What do you hope to see in a new cinematic take on ‘Green Lantern’?  What lessons can be learned from the 2011 debacle?

Well, whatever the hell it ends up being about, who directs it and who stars in it, ‘Green Lantern Corps’ is already scheduled to premier on June 19, 2020.  In brightest day, in blackest night…

Source: Cinema Blend