I was listening to a John Chu interview and he mentioned a very important thing.
And GI JOE is quite something GL can draw from as he former's first outing was also critically panned and was a disaster of sorts!
He made this point about continuities that even if they were disregarding certain characters, the most important thing GI JOE 1 did was INTRODUCE the characters. The point was made regarding the rivalry of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes which was dealt with in the first movie and according to Chu, they didn't have to go back to that again and could just let it rip! And the case in point is that in spite of the first movie panning, I am tremendously excited about the second movie.
The same goes for GL's mythology. We as comicbook fans forget that movies have a much bigger target audience that may not already know what GL is all about. GL 2009 may not have been the most ideal movie but it did get the concept of Green Lantern across. Now, if you are saying that people hated the "concept" of GL, I'd disagree with you. GL was a bad movie and people were very right to hate it. Except probably Sinestro and the scenes on Oa the movie was utter... but I digress!
The thing here is JL could actually act as a Requel to GL if there is an inclination to include that character.
I have a rough idea I'd like to hear your views on.
I guess most of you have watched JL: The New Frontier.
Green Lantern, in that movie, does not actually arrive till the second half of the movie. It's his human self that is present in the first half.
Now we could possible have an invasion, right? Darkseid maybe?
Hal Jordan "dies" off screen at the beginning apparently defending Earth from this extra-terrestrial threat. This is codenamed henceforth as "THE INCIDENT"! Sector 2814 is Green Lantern-less.
The only being on Earth knowing this is Amanda Waller who, post the events of GL 2009 has become Hal Jordan's Government contact (though it happens off screen and is implied maybe as exposition to the same could be made in the team briefing later on by Waller.)
The advent of Superman and the others make Waller reach out to Superman for help and appraises him of the situation who in turn seeks out Batman and the he other JL members to fight the menace that has already reached Earth.
Alternatively, Superman could seek out Batman and the others to save the world on his own accord and Waller uses her sources to contact an give them the brief of the situation.
Throughout these sequences, a young man named "John Stewart" would be around, fresh out of the Marines. maybe scenes were he creates a buddy cop kinda friendship with Barry Allen though I definitely am certain it wouldn't have the impact a Hal-Barry may have.
Somewhere in battle, the League are outflanked and in trouble.
The Guardians of Oa find a new owner of the ring and Sector 2814 have a new Green Lantern!
Continue with a sequel if the character is positively received (which with a decent quality actor, should be less hard).
You get to keep Sinestro and the rest of the Lanterns (which I think were the strong points) and change the characters he interacts with on Earth (who were quite easily the weak link).
I can see why there is so much love for Elba! Dude is a household name now. And isn't averse to playing second fiddle to others.