Before he put on the red suit and gave audiences a proper version of Deadpool following the mess that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds dipped his toes into the DC Comics realm by starring as Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. The Green Lantern mythology has been an integral part of the DC universe for decades, but the movie failed to effectively introduce the Emerald Knight in a theatrical setting, earning negative reviews from critics and only making $220 million worldwide off a $200 million budget. Now seven year later, it turns out that Reynolds has never even watched the completed Green Lantern movie. As Reynolds explained:
I've got to be really careful how I answer this. Look, I've never seen the full final version of Green Lantern. I saw a very late stage rough cut of the film. Now, that isn't to say that I didn't want to see it because I didn't like it. I have movies that have been received pretty well that I haven't seen, and then I have movies that I have seen 100 times that people don't like but I just like. The Green Lantern [joke in Deadpool] to me is just sort of, I don't know, kind of fun. It's me just taking the piss out of me, but it's more Wade [Deadpool's real name] though.
Ryan Reynolds hasn't been shy about making fun of his time on Green Lantern, and there was even a joke in Deadpool where Wade Wilson asked that his super suit not be green or animated. Now thanks to his recent conversation with EW, we know he hasn't even bothered to watch the full movie, with that rough assembly cut being good enough for him. However, judging by the actor's comments, it doesn't sound like he hasn't watched Green Lantern because he didn't enjoy the experience, and he obviously has no issues re-watching some past movies of his that also received negative reception. It simply sounds like sitting down to watch the completed, 105-minute long movie just hasn't piqued his interest. Besides, now that Reynolds playing Deadpool, he's carving out a new superhero legacy, so there isn't as much need to look back on the time he donned the emerald ring of willpower.
Green Lantern was intended to launch a film series that would potentially also open the door to a wider DC world, but those plans were thrown out the proverbial window once the movie failed to impress. In the years since, Ryan Reynolds has attributed Green Lantern's subpar performance on the script not being completed when production began, which resulted in the movie not having a firm grasp on what it was supposed to be. That said, Reynolds has also noted that if he had to do it all over again, he still would have played Hal Jordan rather than turned down the role.
Even though 2011's Green Lantern wasn't a hit, DC hasn't given up on adapting the property for film. Among the many projects in development for the DC Extended Universe is Green Lantern Corps, which will reportedly see an older Hal Jordan teaming up with new recruit John Stewart for a Lethal Weapon in space-type adventure. As for Ryan Reynolds, he's reprising the wise-cracking Wade Wilson later this month for Deadpool 2, and while the actor suspects that Deadpool 3 might not happen, he's expected to play the Merc with the Mouth again in the X-Force movie.
