Misconceptions of the Green Lantern

[Octoberist]

Hey everybody,

To freshen things up, this is the thread where we can discuss the misconceptions of the Green Lantern, from the weakness of the color yellow to the power of a 'magical' ring.

I was inspired to make this thread because sometimes I would read input from people who are not familiar with the comics. On one message board, someone posted "Out of all of the DC characters, they're making a movie about the Green Lantern? Jezz". Or "I thought the Green Lantern was black. This movie sucks!", referring to John Stewart's role in the animated Justice League series. In another, someone said "Someone is powered by..a ring. Green Lantern is the lamest superhero ever".

(Of course, there's the Lord of the Rings, so I guess that's a 'lame' story too? Not to mention that Blackest Night is the best selling series right now in comics. IN COMICS. not just DC.)

If you ask me, this is the perfect time for a Green Lantern movie.

So..of course, these are ill-informed people out there and I'm wondering if any of one have dealt with it. When the movie arrives, of course, it'll hopefully change their minds on the property.

 

[JokerLedger]

DC/WB seems to be pimping Green Lantern right now giving him as much exposure as possible because of the live action movie. I think that's a pretty smart move... I don't recall Marvel doing that with Iron Man.

 

[Octoberist]

i think it's just in good timing. Geoff Johns has been playing out his trilogy (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, and Blackest Night) since 2004. no question in my mind that when Green Lantern hits 2011, he'll be an A lister finally (if he isn't already)

 

[SuperFerret]

The GL ring was weak to the color yellow, and since there's no real explanation to how it works, it might as well be "magic" (then there's Clarke's Third Law). I see no "misconceptions" here.

 

[Octoberist]

i'm going at is that some people are thing Green Lantern still has that ' silver age yellow' weakness where you if you could easily defeat one with a stick of butter. Now it's not the case obviously. Just there's a lot ill informed people out there.

 

[dnno1]

DC/WB seems to be pimping Green Lantern right now giving him as much exposure as possible because of the live action movie. I think that's a pretty smart move... I don't recall Marvel doing that with Iron Man.

Actually, they did, In 2007, Marvel released "The Invincible Iron Man" DTV in the run up to the release of the live action film. It did pretty well (sold over 250,000 copies in its first week in release) comparatively speaking. Heavily marketing the character is a smart move, since it has worked so well with both "Batman" '89 and TDK (although these films took different marketing approaches.

 

[Changeling]

Actually, they did, In 2007, Marvel released "The Invincible Iron Man" DTV in the run up to the release of the live action film. It did pretty well (sold over 250,000 copies in its first week in release) comparatively speaking. Heavily marketing the character is a smart move, since it has worked so well with both "Batman" '89 and TDK (although these films took different marketing approaches.

That's nothing compared to GL's marketing lately. So that doesnt compare at all..

 

[dnno1]

That's nothing compared to GL's marketing lately. So that doesnt compare at all..

The only thing I've seen DC do is put out a DTV and are currently running a limited series based on Green Lantern. Marvel did pretty much the same with Iron Man (the DTV and "Civil War"). This is nothing compared to what was done twenty years ago with Batman. What are you talking about?

 

[The Showstopper]

The GL ring was weak to the color yellow, and since there's no real explanation to how it works, it might as well be "magic" (then there's Clarke's Third Law). I see no "misconceptions" here.

Actually there is a scientific explanation. In the DC Universe there is an emotional spectrum just like the visible light spectrum, Green=Will power, Blue=Hope, Yellow=Fear, ect. The central power battery on Oa collects the will power emmited from all beings in the universe and channels it through the power rings giving a green lantern their power. Yes i am a nerd and i love it!!!!

 

[The Showstopper]

Oh also, they explained why they couldnt affect yellow objects. Parallex, a being made of pure fear was captured and contained in the Central Power Battery on Oa, so when the Green Lanterns tapped into the batterys power their was a yellow impurity in the battey thus affecting their ability to manipulate yellow objects with their will

 

[Octoberist]

well all of that came in when Geoff Johns came on aboard. But there's still people that think currently that it's still the Silver Age mythos. That, and Hal is boring when currently (thanks to Johns) he's not.

 

[Webhead2006]

I myself dont know much on any of the Green lantern characters. But i cant wait to see how things go.

 

[Octoberist]

glad that you have an open mind.

I didn't get into Green Lantern until maybe..Rebirth.

Even then, I always thought that Green Lantern was a cool concept and would make a great movie. It just puzzles me when I read comments like "How can you make a ring that can make giant hands seriously, without people laughing at it?" Honestly, I think it's just cool from the get go.

I really hope that the movie takes advantage of the constructs. Make Hal create..a T-Rex out of his ring. Make it cool.

 

[Webhead2006]

Well comics wise i am more a marvel guy, but for cartoons/live action films i am open to any all all that peak my interests and all that.

 

[dnno1]

Actually there is a scientific explanation. In the DC Universe there is an emotional spectrum just like the visible light spectrum, Green=Will power, Blue=Hope, Yellow=Fear, ect. The central power battery on Oa collects the will power emmited from all beings in the universe and channels it through the power rings giving a green lantern their power. Yes i am a nerd and i love it!!!!

From what I gather from this New Earth theory, Ion is the embodiment of the green-willpower energy and was placed in the central power battery to counter the yellow-fearpower energy of Parallax. This new theory (which is just a refinement of the original explanation from the Silver Age) leads to the posiblilty of other emotional spectrum based symbiotes. The Star Saphire's Predator being evidence of that.

 

[Figs]

Well comics wise i am more a marvel guy, but for cartoons/live action films i am open to any all all that peak my interests and all that.

This is pretty much how I am. Only DC comic I got into in my younger years was Batman. With that being said, I am looking forward to most comic films, not just Marvel ones. This one as well as any others DC can get rolling...like The Flash. I remember watching the TV show of that when I was a kid and would love for them to make a movie.

I don't know much at all about Green Lantern other than what the ring can do but the material itself sounds promising for a very entertaining film.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea like i said i am down for any comic book cartoon/tv show/movies that peak my interest.

 

[Octoberist]

I love DC..maybe more so than Marvel...but I think they mishandled their characters (besides Batman and Superman) for a while until the 2000s. You have to keep in mind that when Marvel became big in the 60s, they were the new kid on the block and were more modern. You can say that Spider-Man was (at the time) the new Superman for the 60s generation. So DC had to catch up with the times and they didn't until the 80s with the Frank Millers and Alan Moores of the comic book world.

 

[SuperFerret]

Actually there is a scientific explanation. In the DC Universe there is an emotional spectrum just like the visible light spectrum, Green=Will power, Blue=Hope, Yellow=Fear, ect. The central power battery on Oa collects the will power emmited from all beings in the universe and channels it through the power rings giving a green lantern their power. Yes i am a nerd and i love it!!!!

Even then, there's no scientific way to measure, gauge, or even define what an emotion is or what makes them different from each other on a measurable level. It's not like we can excrete willpower in any measurable form.

 

[sdc10]

DC/WB seems to be pimping Green Lantern right now giving him as much exposure as possible because of the live action movie. I think that's a pretty smart move... I don't recall Marvel doing that with Iron Man.

Well they may also be "pimping" him because GL consistently stays as one of the best thing DC has going for it due in no small part to Geoff John's writing. I mean the Sinestro Corps War is what really sucked me into GL. Im reading the trades and am loving the build up to Blackest Night.

 

[That-Guy]

It is strange, but I've talked to some casual superhero fans (i.e. ones who see the movies but don't read many of the comics) about how excited I am for a GL film and they've had a "meh" reaction to the whole thing. I guess it does just boil down to people being misinformed or simply not knowing much about the character. Everyone has heard of him and people know about the power ring thing, but that's as far as it goes for people who didn't grow up with Super Friends and have never read comic books. The Justice League series gave GL some exposure, but since it was John Stewart, a lot of novices aren't familiar with Hal Jordan.

I guess it will all come down to how cool the trailer looks for these people, in addition to the other cast announcements. Ryan Reynolds of course is pretty popular, but he's not huge yet... however, if they stock this thing with some other notable names, then it will get a lot more buzz. I'd liken it to the way Thor is turning out. I'm not a big fan of Thor, but I'm excited for the film because Kenneth Brannagh is a great director and he's stocking that movie with some high-level talent.

 

[Octoberist]

I agree that it'll come down to the trailer.

Green Lantern has been kicking butt in the comics, being one of DC's best selling series. I think the movie will just add more to the fanbase.

I'll bring it up again: There was a guy online trash talking Green Lantern just to bait a fight, stating that a superhero with a ring is stupid. "Why not have a power necklace" he said.

Then I brought up Lord of the Rings, and he shut up. In fact, I think 'powerful rings' has been around since Biblical times, being mentioned in some religions too. owned

 

[That-Guy]

Yeah, exactly. And it's not like GL is the only comic book character to use a power ring. The Mandarin's got 10 of them.

 

[Chris B]

I guess it will all come down to how cool the trailer looks for these people, in addition to the other cast announcements.

I agree. That's why I'm not really concerned about any of the misconceptions about GL because I don't doubt that once people get a taste of the possibilities the character offers, they'll be interested. Maybe I'm just being too overly optimistic, but I really think GL could be the next big thing as long as Campbell and co. produce a solid film and WB throws a strong marketing campaign behind it.

 

[dnno1]

i think it's just in good timing. Geoff Johns has been playing out his trilogy (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, and Blackest Night) since 2004. no question in my mind that when Green Lantern hits 2011, he'll be an A lister finally (if he isn't already)

I am sure that they had that planed to coincide all along.

It is strange, but I've talked to some casual superhero fans (i.e. ones who see the movies but don't read many of the comics) about how excited I am for a GL film and they've had a "meh" reaction to the whole thing. I guess it does just boil down to people being misinformed or simply not knowing much about the character. Everyone has heard of him and people know about the power ring thing, but that's as far as it goes for people who didn't grow up with Super Friends and have never read comic books. The Justice League series gave GL some exposure, but since it was John Stewart, a lot of novices aren't familiar with Hal Jordan.

I guess it will all come down to how cool the trailer looks for these people, in addition to the other cast announcements. Ryan Reynolds of course is pretty popular, but he's not huge yet... however, if they stock this thing with some other notable names, then it will get a lot more buzz. I'd liken it to the way Thor is turning out. I'm not a big fan of Thor, but I'm excited for the film because Kenneth Brannagh is a great director and he's stocking that movie with some high-level talent.

Yeah, how cool the trailer looks and word of mouth. They've got a little over a year left to market this project. Sure, the comic book fans may be sold on this, but we are going to need a lot more than us to make this a solid franchise. That's why I had proposed luring in fans from the (SciFi/Fantasy genre. Green Lantern can appeal to them, especially Star Wars and Star Trek fans). If the WB marketed Green Lantern just like they did Star Wars: Episode IV, Batman '89 and TDK, it will do pretty well. Just for the record, SWANH was marketed at the SciFi conventions and the buzz about the SFX made it take off. Batman '89 used parphenalia such at T-shirts with the batsignal and such all over shopping malls around the country to stir up interest. TDK used viral marketing to sell the film. Seeing the success of performance capture and 3D film in Avatar, I wonder if there is time to integrate that into the project or if they are even planning to do that now?