Warner Bros. has picked their Green Lantern and they’ve gone with the safest choice. You’ll remember earlier today we told you here that they’d narrowed things down to three actors: Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper. THR says they’ve now settled on Ryan Reynolds to play Hal Jordan/Green Lantern.
Reynolds is no stranger to playing the superhero. It started with Blade Trinity in which he played one of Wesley Snipes’ sword-wielding, witty, vampire-killing sidekicks. Then this summer he showed up and was underutilized in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as the wise-cracking, sword-swinging Deadpool. No swords for Ryan this time, Green Lantern has a better weapon, a ring of power which lets him create almost anything he can imagine. Lantern isn’t however usually known for his sense of humor, though who knows, perhaps they’ll find a way to rework the character to suit Ryan’s talent for the perfect retort.
The deal isn’t done yet, but they’re working on it. Martin Campbell is already set to direct and they expect to start shooting in January. Budget is still being set, but expect big, big, big if they plan to pull off Green Lantern’s challenging super powers. This is probably bad news for anyone hoping for a Deadpool spin-off, Green Lantern is DC Comics and Deadpool is Marvel. It’s unlikely Ryan will be allowed to cross back over the superhero aisle.
