Despite the 2011’s Green Lantern earning mostly negative reviews, one of film’s high points was Mark Strong’s portrayal of Sinestro. With plans for a sequel to this film being trashed in favor of a reboot set in the DC Cinematic Universe, Strong was asked whether he would be up for reprising the role. Unfortunately for fans of this version of the character, it doesn’t look like that will ever happen.
Serving as one of Hal Jordan’s mentors, the pre-villain Korugarian’s strict training and tough love helped Ryan Reynold’s Hal Jordan defeat Hector Hammond and Parallax. Speaking with MTV, the Sherlock Holmes actor admitted that it’s unlikely he will be asked to play Sinestro in any of the upcoming DCCU movies, believing that his Sinestro belonged strictly to the world seen in the 2011 film. Strong said:
Well I think the Sinestro I did belonged very much to the world of the one that we created, and with a reboot I think it has to be a fresh broom, doesn’t it? So I’m sure they’re going to go for a whole other look and a whole other group of actors.
Although Sinestro served as a force for good in Green Lantern, there was also foreshadowing of his fall from grace. The epilogue showed Sinestro putting on the yellow ring he forged earlier in the movie to combat Parallax. His eyes and suit subsequently turned yellow, setting him up as a villain for a future story. Now that the Emerald Knight’s film series is being rebooted, we’ll never see this Sinestro turn against the Green Lantern Corps and battle Hal Jordan, let alone form the Sinestro Corps, his army of fear-wielding soldiers. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll never see the character again.
First appearing in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #7 in 1961, Sinestro has been the the greatest enemy of not just Hal Jordan, but the entire Green Lantern Corps for decades. Although we’ll never see Strong’s Sinestro again, it’s hard to imagine the DCCU not introducing the villain in the Green Lantern reboot, or earlier. That would be like if none of the Batman films included The Joker, or if the Superman films never used Lex Luthor. Even if an origin story for Green Lantern is eschewed and we don’t ever see Sinestro go to the dark side, having him as an established threat wielding the fear-powered yellow ring (either on his own or with his Sinestro Corspmen) would make him a great first threat for the new Green Lantern, be it Hal Jordan, John Stewart, or someone else. That being said, considering how strong Strong’s (hehe) performance was, the new Sinestro actor will have a challenging time filling those shoes.
You can watch Strong’s full comments in the video below.
While it may be a long time before we learn whether Sinestro will be featured in the DCCU, fans can expect to see the Green Lantern reboot hit theaters on June 19, 2020, though the titular hero may end up debuting earlier in one of the Justice League films.
