When Green Lantern Corps hits theaters in 2020, there won't just be one human manipulating the will-infused green energy. It was reported earlier this month that the upcoming DCEU movie will star Hal Jordan and John Stewart as its primary ring-slingers. Today brought the news of five actors who are reportedly being consider to play Hal. Those were enough to chew on for a while, but now it appears a sixth individual might also be in consideration: James Marsden, a.k.a. the X-Men film series' original Cyclops.
While attempting to confirm whether there was any truth to the earlier casting rumors, We Got This Covered spoke to a source who said that not only are Armie Hammer and Ryan Reynolds indeed being considered, but James Marsden is also being looked at because of his recent work on the HBO series Westworld. That's not to say that Marsden is being considered more heavily than the other men, but it appears his name is definitely in the mix to play an older Hal Jordan. Green Lantern Corps is intended to be a reboot, so other than Reynolds, who already played Hal in 2011's Green Lantern, all these actors are on equal footing...for now. No actors have been rumored for John Stewart yet, although This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown has expressed interest in the role.
James Marsden has already left his mark on the superhero movie genre as Cyclops in the first three X-Men movies. Just like in the comics, his iteration of Scott Summers was the X-Men leader, but his role was diminished in favor of highlighting Wolverine. Eventually Marsden's Cyclops was killed off in X-Men: The Last Stand after the actor snagged a supporting role in Superman Returns, though Scott was brought back to life in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Marsden's other prominent roles credits include Enchanted, Hairspray, 30 Rock and Ally McBeal, and he can currently be seen playing Teddy Flood in Westworld.
Details surrounding Green Lantern Corps are scarce, but the story, being written by David Goyer and Justin Rhodes, will reportedly be a "Lethal Weapon in space" tale that is based on a comic book origin story. Given how Hal Jordan showed John Stewart the ropes when the latter made his comic book debut in 1971, presumably the DCEU's Hal would also serve as a mentor to John, in contrast with how the first theatrical Green Lantern movie told Hal's origin story. If James Marsden were to score the role, it wouldn't be the first time an actor has played another superhero. Ryan Reynolds jumped from Green Lantern to Deadpool, and Chris Evans played Captain America after his time as The Human Torch was done.
Green Lantern Corps arrives in theaters on July 24, 2020.
