As we move closer to the premiere of the upcoming DC TV show Lanterns sometime in 2026 on HBO, more eyes will undoubtedly be looking back at 2011’s Green Lantern. Released five years before Ryan Reynolds finally got to play a faithful version of Deadpool, the actor’s sole outing as Hal Jordan was a critical and commercial disappointment, resulting in sequel plans being scrapped. Reynolds has never hesitated to make fun of Green Lantern over its flaws, but more recently, he discussed the big lesson he learned from the DC movie.
Reynolds reflected on this portion of his career while being interviewed by Time, starting off by saying that too many resources were poured into making Green Lantern look good, which ended up being detrimental to the script As he put it:
I saw a lot of money being spent on special effects, all sorts of stuff. And I remember suggesting, ‘Why don't we write a scene the way people would talk? I don’t know, it could be a fun exchange of dialogue that doesn’t cost anything?'
The line, “Let’s get these pants off and fly some planes” comes to mind after reading Ryan Reynolds’ comment, a line Hal Jordan said to Blake Lively’s Carol Ferris early on in the movie. That’s not to say that Green Lantern shouldn't have had flashy special and visual effects, and Warner Bros. Pictures certainly spared no expense on that front with the movie’s reported $200 million budget. But Reynolds makes a good point, had more attention been directed into strengthening the script, maybe Green Lantern would have fared better at the box office. He voiced similar thoughts back in April, saying this flick prioritized “spectacle” over “character.
Green Lantern flopping also made Ryan Reynolds realize just how important it is to have his name attached to something he can throw his full support behind, whether it success or not. In his words:
When it failed, it’s not the director’s name out there. It’s my name. I want to be the architect of my own demise or the author of my own success.
Playing Green Lantern didn’t work out for Ryan Reynolds, but as mentioned earlier, he found superhero movie redemption with Deadpool. While the actor from The Proposal and Waiting… had previously played Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it wasn’t until 2016 that we saw him bring to life a proper red-suited, fourth wall-breaking version of the Merc with the Mouth. Additionally, Reynolds worked closely with screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and was also one Deadpool’s producers, so his stamp was very much all over it, unlike Green Lantern.
Fortunately for fans of this emerald-tinted DC Comics property, Lanterns is affording it another shot at live-action glory. Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre respectively star in the DC Universe series as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and Nathan Fillion will reprise Guy Gardner following his appearances in Superman and Peacemaker Season 2. Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds is reportedly putting together an X-Men team-up movie where he would play Deadpool next, but this project has yet to be officially confirmed.
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