If you’ve been following the casting announcements and other news coming out of ‘Justice League’, you might have noticed something missing. Or rather, someone. That someone is Green Lantern. Though it had long been assumed that a rebooted version of the character would appear in the upcoming DC team up (especially given the comic book version’s long history with the team), producer Charles Roven confirmed last year that Green Lantern would sit out that installment, with his debut coming (at the earliest) in the second ‘Justice League’ film, currently set for summer 2019.
While there has been no official word on which of the many characters to serve as Green Lantern will star in the film, rumors have thus far tended to focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart and that the film will take more of a buddy cop approach.
Despite the news over exactly which characters will be featured, we may now have our first hint of who will be playing them. Citing “multiple people with knowledge of the project”, Umberto Gonzalez of The Wrap claims to have come into possession of DC Entertainment’s shortlist of candidates for the lead role in ‘Green Lantern Corps’ (which he names as Hal Jordan). According to Gonzalez, that list includes Tom Cruise, Joel McHale, Bradley Cooper, Armie Hammer, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds (UPDATED to James Marsden according to We Got This Covered).
Yes, you read that right. Ryan Reynolds.
The inclusion of Reynolds, in particular, is reason enough to treat this report with skepticism. Whatever one thinks of that film, it’s taken enough of a drubbing from fans and critics alike that it’s impossible to imagine Ryan Reynolds getting another shot at the role. Frankly, it’s been five years since the ‘Green Lantern‘ arrived in theaters. That film hit when Warner was still struggling to find their footing as a box office competitor to the Marvel Studios juggernaut. Suffice it to say, if they had any interest in revisiting the Ryan Reynolds version of Hal Jordan, it would have happened by now. Regardless, it would be best to take this list with a grain or two of salt, given Gonzalez’s occasionally spotty track record with this sort of thing.
The next installment in DC’s nascent cinematic universe, ‘Wonder Woman‘, is due in June of this year with ‘Justice League’ following in November. ‘Green Lantern Corps’ is currently set for a July 24, 2020 release date.
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