Warner Brothers’ first venture into non-Superman or Batman DC Comics superheroes on the big screen didn’t exactly set the world on fire five years ago when it came out. When Green Lantern hit theaters in the summer of 2011, it was both a critical and commercial dud, sinking the studio’s attempts at building a DC film universe (and sinking Ryan Reynolds‘ career for some time). But Green Lantern has been one of DC’s biggest superhero properties for 75 years, and it was too important to leave on the sidelines forever.
Now, thanks to Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, the DC movie universe is, at least commercially, successful, and Warner Brothers is giving the Emerald Gladiator another shot at big screen fame. But this time it’ll be Green Lanterns, plural — just announced via Deadline, the studio has given the go ahead for a Green Lantern Corps movie script from veteran comic book movie scribe David S. Goyer and Justin Rhodes. Goyer will be producing, alongside his former Justice Society of America writing partner Geoff Johns. Nerdist has reached out to a source close to the project who confirmed, however Warner Bros had no official comment.According to the report, this new version is described as “Lethal Weapon in space”, and the two main characters will be veteran Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Stewart is described as “an African American Marine sniper before he joined the Lantern Corps” and the story very much focuses on his relationship with Jordan and the Corps. The story was conceived by Goyer and Johns. Johns of course is maybe the most famous Green Lantern comic book writer of the modern era — starting with Green Lantern: Rebirth back in 2004, he began a nearly ten year run on the character that redefined his universe and mythology and made Green Lantern one of DC’s biggest success stories.
Not terribly long ago, the Green Lantern Corps movie was given a release date of 2020, but it’s unknown if they plan to stick to that release date. The title also suggests we will see more than just two Lanterns — a duo does not a Corps make, so it’s possible we could see other famous Lanterns make up the rest of the titular team. It could stand to become Warner Brothers most diverse movie if they follow the comics, because other famous Lanterns include the Latin-American characters Jessica Cruz and Kyle Rayner, the LGBT version of original Lantern Alan Scott (who is not a Corps member per se in the comics, but they can change that for the movies), the Lebanese Simon Baz, and more.
There is no shortage of great Green Lantern stories from the comics to choose from for material, mostly from the Geoff Johns run in the past decade. The storyline in Green Lantern: Secret Origin shows how both Hal Jordan and John Stewart knew one another before their careers as space cops, as both men were members of the military before being recruited into the Corps. Also, both characters were key players in the epic Sinestro Corps Wars storyline, which featured Hal Jordan’s evil counterpart Sinestro building his own fear-based Corps. Another epic Green Lantern storyline is 2009’s Blackest Night, which featured the Black Lantern Corps, which were essentially zombie Lanterns based on dead heroes well known to the members of the Green Lantern Corps.
Another question looming over this reboot is whether or not the actors who play Hal Jordan and John Stewart will be introduced in another movie first – namely Justice League. Rumors abound that one or more members of the Corps will make a surprise cameo appearance in the climax of the Justice League movie which comes out this fall. It’s unusual for the Justice League to have no Green Lantern presence at all, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see our two newest Lantern make their debut as early as this year.
Which comic book stories would you like to see adapted for the big screen? And which actors are your ideal Hal Jordan and John Stewart? Let us know down below in the comments!
Images: Warner Brothers / DC Comics
