Despite finally getting to play Deadpool next year, Ryan Reynolds is still in the shadow of his last superhero role: Green Lantern. Despite boasting fanciful CGI and a deep mythology, 2011’s Green Lantern movie was a critical failure and barely made back its budget. Looking back, one would think that Reynolds might have done things differently with the underwhelming space adventure, but actually, he wouldn’t have changed anything and is overall okay with how things turned out.
During an interview with GQ, Reynolds admitted that despite how poorly Green Lantern was received, he still would have made the same decision to star in the film, citing how big of a project it was at the time. Said Reynolds,
If I had to do it all again, I’d do the exact same thing. You know, also, 'Green Lantern' — you gotta remember, at the time, everyone was gunning for that role. The guys I was screen-testing against are amazing talents. But would I change it? No! And if it was as big a success, then it might have offered a whole different avenue of opportunities, or maybe I would just be kind of always that guy. I really don’t know.
Reynolds also agreed with the publication that had Green Lantern been successful, he would most likely be working on Green Lantern 3 right now. Frankly, things would have been a lot bigger for Reynolds than just still starring in a successful film series. Originally, Green Lantern was being used to test the waters for a DC Cinematic Universe, just like Iron Man did for the MCU. Basically, Reynolds would have been akin to Robert Downey Jr. over at Marvel. However, after the film’s poor box office performance, sequel plans were scrapped, and 2013’s Man of Steel was instead used to kick off DC’s version of Marvel’s big screen world.
Now the plan is to reboot the Green Lantern film series in 2020 with Green Lantern Corps, and it’s also suspected a Green Lantern (presumably Hal Jordan or John Stewart) will be one of the leading heroes in the Justice League films. As for Reynolds, he has a good sense of humor and has made peace with how things happened. He even dropped a dig in the recent Deadpool trailer, with Wade Wilson asking that his new super suit not be green or animated. The actor has already gone on record saying that Deadpool will be his last comic book role, but considering that Wade Wilson is a perfect fit for Reynolds’ personality, things seem to have worked out for the best.
His time with Green Lantern is done, but moviegoers can catch Reynolds as Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth when Deadpool hits theaters on February 12, 2016.
