If there’s one point we’ve been hammering ever since the release of ‘Justice League’ it’s all the question marks that are currently hanging over the whole affair. But even before ‘Justice League’, some of the biggest question marks were those lingering over ‘Green Lantern Corps’. In point of fact, given the lukewarm performance of 2011’s ‘Green Lantern’, there was always going to be a little extra scrutiny aimed at their second attempt. Would it focus on another version of the character to contrast with the prior film’s choice of Hal Jordan, perhaps going with John Stewart instead? Or would DC double down on Hal Jordan, given the character’s supposed importance to the DC Universe? And, in a post ‘Justice League’ world, would the film still happen at all?
That last one especially came to prominence when Rupert Wyatt, who had been attached to direct the film since summer of 2017, dropped out. But despite this setback, the film is still on the docket, with DC reportedly still eyeing an early 2020 release window. But that doesn’t give them the biggest window in which to find a director and actually make the thing, which is sure to be a particularly effects-heavy affair. To that end, DC is, according to That Hashtag Show, courting Christopher McQuarrie to take on the project.
If he does ultimately sign on, McQuarrie’s involvement with the DCEU would be oddly appropriate given his prior work. He has spent most of his career as a writer, accumulating a list of credits that range from the Oscar-winning screenplay for ‘The Usual Suspects’ to a script contribution to last year’s less than spectacular Tom Cruise vehicle, ‘The Mummy‘. As a director, however, he is best known for helming ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ and this year’s ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’. For those keeping score at home, that makes McQuarrie responsible (in a roundabout sort of way, at least) for Henry Cavill’s infamous mustache and the equally infamous CGI that was needed to remove it from ‘Justice League’.
Facial hair notwithstanding, McQuarrie has some definite chops, both as a screenwriter and as a director of tentpole action movies. And while he has yet to helm a major genre picture, he’s not exactly a neophyte, having made uncredited contributions to ‘X-Men’, ‘The Wolverine’, and ‘Rogue One’ and a script credit on ‘Edge of Tomorrow’, though none of those quite have the sort of scope and grandeur associated with the best ‘Green Lantern’ stories. In any case, DC could certainly do worse.
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on ‘Green Lantern Corps’ as it becomes available.
