Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi would prefer not to remember co-starring in 2011's Green Lantern. Reynolds' now-wife Blake Lively probably feels the same. Reynolds and Waititi are re-teaming for Free Guy and they'd like you to think of it as the first time they worked together.
The two modern megastars made a joke of it during a video with Free Guy co-stars Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) and Joe Keery (Stranger Things). They were talking about what drew them to the project, and Deadpool's Ryan Reynolds and MCU director Taika Waititi joked that they were most excited to work together for the first time ever.
Ryan Reynolds: I'm really mostly here for Taika. I've been a huge fan of his for a long time and it's super cool to finally meet him.Taika Waititi: Yeah, ditto for me as well. I've known about Ryan for a long time and I think we've always been trying to meet up or connect or work together at some point. To finally get that chance to finally be in the same thing together for the first time ever is actually -- super stoked for that.Jodie Comer: Didn't you guys do a movie together?Joe Keery: Yeah I think I heard you guys talking about that.Ryan Reynolds: I don't think so.Taika Waititi: Not from my memory. This is the first time we've met...Joe Keery: Green Lantern!Jodie Comer: Yeah.Ryan Reynolds: No, I don't think so. Maybe you're thinking of Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, Fried Green Tomatoes. ... Seth Rogen Green Hornet.Taika Waititi: That's it. That's where you're getting confused. Neither of us are Seth Rogen...
The video ends with Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi ghosting their co-stars to avoid talking further about Green Lantern. Pretty funny stuff:
Cast your mind back to 2011, when Green Lantern came out. Ryan Reynolds was fresh off The Proposal and his debut as Deadpool in 2009's X-Men: Origins: Wolverine. Apparently Ryan shot the infamous Deadpool test footage the week Green Lantern came out. Actor/writer/director Taika Waititi was coming out of Flight of the Conchords and early films like Eagle vs Shark and Boy.
Ryan played Hal Jordan, a test pilot for the Ferris Aircraft Company, with Taika as his engineer friend Thomas. Taika said he was cast after Warner Bros. saw him in his movie Boy. Green Lantern was a pretty notorious flop with critics, fans, and the box office. Ryan Reynolds has poked fun at the movie for years, but many fans may not even remember that Taika Waititi was in it:
Nowadays, Taika Waititi is best known behind the camera for Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do in the Shadows, Jojo Rabbit, the MCU's Team Thor shorts -- which we need more of -- and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder.
Suggestion: Taika Waititi directs Ryan Reynolds' first MCU movie as Deadpool. Apparently we're penciling that in for MCU Phase 5. Get on it, Feige.
In the meantime, Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi have Free Guy. Ryan plays a bank teller -- just called Guy -- who discovers he's a background character in an open world video game that will soon go offline. Not sure what Taika's role is yet, but it looks like Ryan has also bonded with Joe Keery, since Ryan calls him "a goddamn snack" in the caption to this poster from the movie:
Free Guy, directed by Shawn Levy, is scheduled for release on July 3, 2020. That's a nice cushy Independence Day release date. Keep up with everything heading to the big screen next year with our 2020 movie release date schedule.
