The Green Lanterns, and Hal Jordan in particular, are one of the pillars of the DC comic book universe. Unfortunately Hal Jordan had an ignominious first foray onto the big screen with 2011's Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. Now, with the DCEU slowly figuring things out, it seems that Green Lantern will be returning to the big screen before too long in the still developing Green Lantern Corps. movie. As to who will be playing Hal Jordan, there are no firm answers other than it probably won't be Ryan Reynolds. One of the names that has been bandied about is Tom Cruise. The action star has never played a superhero before, so to get an idea of what he could look like as Hal Jordan, check out the fan art below:
This should certainly add some fuel to the fire for those hoping to see Tom Cruise finally make the leap to the superhero realm with Green Lantern Corps. Having the mask half on and half off, so you can see that it's Tom Cruise-- and also see how he would look as the hero. Plus, seeing Tom Cruise wearing a Ferris Air shirt does seem appropriate for the Top Gun star. I really like the aesthetic spdrmnkyxxiii went with here too. The color palette evokes a hard sci-fi, first contact type story. Similar to something you would see in an Alien film, the green emanating from the ring looking powerful and mysterious. It's also very reminiscent of the recent Green Lantern: Earth One comic.
This fan art is very cool, and definitely looks like it could be the first official image from a film. It also shows why Tom Cruise's name comes up for Hal Jordan so often, because he looks the part here. The actor is arguably the biggest action star ever, but he hasn't done a superhero film. He was approached about Iron Man once upon a time, so it does seems overdue. We know that Hal Jordan and John Stewart will be the Emerald Knights leading the new film, and if Hal is an older mentor to John-- an older actor like Tom Cruise could make sense in the role. Also with Christopher McQuarrie's name mentioned as a possible director, he could reteam with his Mission: Impossible star.
As far the chances that Tom Cruise actually takes on the role of Hal Jordan in Green Lantern Corps., it might be too early to say. Green Lantern Corps. was scheduled for a 2020 release date, but with all the shuffling around in the DCEU that may be unlikely. The man who reinvigorated Green Lantern in the comics, Geoff Johns, is working on the script for the film. But it is still in its early stages. So we may remain in blackest night for a while before we get some light shed on the 'who' and 'when' of Green Lantern Corps. Personally, I favor Armie Hammer, whose name has also been rumored. Or a lesser-known actor for Hal Jordan over Tom Cruise, but this fan art definitely makes the case for the Mission: Impossible Fallout star to get the ring.
We may be waiting a while for Green Lantern Corps., but the DCEU is back after a year off with Aquaman, putting theater seats in the splash zone on December 21st. For all of this year's biggest movies, check out our release schedule.
