Official Green Lantern Casting and Discussion Thread

[neotheone]

so which green lantern is it

 

[Katsuro]

so which green lantern is it

We dont even know if they're making a Green Lantern, yet alone which character they'd have star.

 

[Kebab gud]

if there going to make a Green Lantern movie im 100% shure they will go with Hal .. its Hal most people recognize as Green Lantern, and he is THE Green Lantern.. the other guys are just standinns and token black/young guys

 

[StorminNorman]

if there going to make a Green Lantern movie im 100% shure they will go with Hal .. its Hal most people recognize as Green Lantern, and he is THE Green Lantern.. the other guys are just standinns and token black/young guys

No, most of the GA think John Stewart when they think Green Lantern.

Thank you Dini/Timm

 

[GL1]

No, most of the GA think John Stewart when they think Green Lantern.

Thank you Dini/Timm

Thank you, Norman, for injecting some reality here.

Just because Green Lantern lives in an imaginary world doesn't mean we have to.

 

[mwm1331]

I will not expand it. I have several lengthy posts that deal with this very same fallacy, in this same therad, I believe.

I will state the obvious, to underline how dumb this jab is. The good part is obviously what happens to John's personal life when he gets the ring... y'know, it gets totally shot to heck. Same with Hal, the interesting part isn't why he got the ring, it's what he does with it, and what it does to him.

A lot of people like to forget there was specific reason why John Stewart was selected... and it wasn't because he's black.

Actually John Stuart was created specifically because he was black. He was the defintion of a token character who was created specifically to be a minority.

from http://www.popcultureaddict.com/comicbooks/NealAdams.htm

I said, "Y'know, Julie... we really oughta... well if something happened to Green Lantern you'd need somebody else. How about we have another Green Lantern?" And Julie says, "What are you driving at? We already have one." I said, "What? We have one?" Julie says, "Yeah, Guy Gardner." I say, "Oh. Really? I didn't know that." He said, "Yeah. We did a story. Don't you read these books?" I said, "Oh sorry. I guess not. Tell me about him." Julie says, "Well, he's a gym teacher." I said, "Is he white?" "Yeah." It was like - what kind of stupid question is that? And he pulled out a comic book and he was white and blonde and I said, "Well let's say something happened to him and Green Lantern needed another guy. Kind of a runner up. Y'know, I'd kind of like to do something like that." I didn't want to lose this idea. I kind of liked the idea and Julie had ruined it for me. He said, "What are you driving at?" I said, "I'd kinda like a black Green Lantern." Julie said, "Why? No!" I said, "Why not?" He said, "Well... no! I mean, why? I mean, you don't think of Green Lantern as being black!" I said, "Now wait a second Julie. Let's try this line of reasoning. Guy comes to Earth. He's going to die. He sends out his ring or his lantern or whatever to find the most worthy person on Earth. Okay? Turns out to be a white Anglo-Saxon test pilot. I could buy that. Y'know, it's possible. It's possible. I buy it. Ring goes out again to find the next guy. It turns out to be a white blonde Anglo-Saxon gym teacher. I don't think so. You know how many Chinese people there are in the world? You ever watch the Olympics? I mean, you rarely ever see three white guys lined up there. You see some once in a while. You know, maybe it happens. Maybe in archery. But you got black guys, you got oriental. I mean, I don't mind if he's oriental but I'd kinda like to have a black guy."
Sam: Well with the race problems at that time it would have made good storytelling.

Neal: Yes! Of course! What am I thinking of? Julie says, "Nawwww." I say, "Julie. C'mon." He says, "Alright. Denny writes it. You gotta draw it." "Okay. You got it. No problem." So Denny hands in the strip and on the first page it says, "Lincoln Washington is walking down the street," and I run into Julie and I go, "Julie. I think we oughta change his name."
Sam: Lincoln Washington?
Neal: Lincoln Washington. [chuckles] Julie says, "Why? I've heard a lot of black names. Lincoln Washington is a good black name!"

Sam: Well you might as well have him eating fried chicken and watermelon in the panel with that name.


Neal: I say, "Well Julie. That's what you call a slave name. You call that a slave name and even if you're called Lincoln Washington that's a name you want to change." "There's nothing wrong with that name," he says, "It's a proud name." I say, "I don't think that's what we want to do with our character. I think you want to call him by a regular name like John Stewart." "John Stewart?" "Yeah. It's a regular name." Julie says, "Fine. Okay. No problem. You got it. Anything else?" I said, "No, that'll be fine." And so we did it. Now in a way, Denny was right. Lincoln Washington is truly a black name because it is a slave name and at that time we still hadn't come up with the Muhammad Ali's and that stuff which would have been even better, but nobody had done it yet so that wasn't the time. But John Stewart, I thought that was pretty good. Who knew that it would end up being a good comedian from a late night television show? So anyways, that was it.

Talk about stuck int he sixties, "slave names"
I also love how he thinks all whites are unconsiously racist, I know this storyline is supposed to be "socially advanced" but its no wonder it sold like stale s**t. Even for the times it was hackneyed, played out, and laughable.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

No, most of the GA think John Stewart when they think Green Lantern.

Thank you Dini/Timm

No because MOST people don't watch cartoons....it seems MOST comic fans forget this. Most people would probably remember him being white if anything.

 

[Tristantulanka]

Hal Jordan:

Yeah thats it

 

[Katsuro]

No, most of the GA think John Stewart when they think Green Lantern.

Thank you Dini/Timm

The General Audience has never heard of Green Lantern period.

 

[GL1]

1) It doesn't matter if people watch cartoons or not. John Stewart was on a cereal box every month for five years. And on kids backpacks, and trick or treating, and roaming around Six Flags. He was everywhere for five years. Even if people don't know his name, they've seen him. He's more visuallly recognizable to the general audience than Hal. John's been everywhere (not just on CN), Hal hasn't. Period. End of story. Thank you Dini/Timm.

2) The line of reasoning in that quote is not a 'token' thought, it's drawing a concept out to it's logical conclusion which means a non-white character because it's what should've happened next, not 'lets get a black guy cuz there are none.' It was clearly "Lets get a black guy cuz he should've already been there..."

3) EVERYone is unconciously racist, black and white alike. Ask a psychiatrist. It's what we do with our biases that show our character.

I know this storyline is supposed to be "socially advanced" but its no wonder it sold like stale s**t. Even for the times it was hackneyed, played out, and laughable.

That's an all around ignorant comment. The best part is where you say that black characters were 'played out' in the early seventies. You mean BOTH of them???

 

[mwm1331]

3) EVERYone is unconciously racist, black and white alike. Ask a psychiatrist. It's what we do with our biases that show our character.

Right. Sure thing.

That's an all around ignorant comment. The best part is where you say that black characters were 'played out' in the early seventies. You mean BOTH of them???

I said that type of thinking was played out. Slave names, all whites being racist honkey mofo's, etc etc.

 

[Katsuro]

2) The line of reasoning in that quote is not a 'token' thought, it's drawing a concept out to it's logical conclusion which means a non-white character because it's what should've happened next, not 'lets get a black guy cuz there are none.' It was clearly "Lets get a black guy cuz he should've already been there..."

If they really wanted to go for logic like that, they should've gotten someone from a whole different country. When we're speaking on a global scale, just getting a black guy isn't really much diversity.

 

[GL1]

I said that type of thinking was played out. Slave names, all whites being racist honkey mofo's, etc etc.

Gramatically, the "it" pronoun you used referred to the storyline, not to the thought process.

If they really wanted to go for logic like that, they should've gotten someone from a whole different country. When we're speaking on a global scale, just getting a black guy isn't really much diversity.

But it is some. And yes, logially the concept that ALL major superheroes make their home in America is pure suspension of disbelief. Someone simply decided that the idea that all major superheoes are white was either too much or an unnecessary suspension. But point taken, they did not take this thinking to it's logical conclusion, nor, in the interest of storytelling, should they.

As for "slave names," I, personally am thankful that they didn't name him Lincoln Washington. Terribly thankful. I appreciate that they gave him a normal name as opposed to laying upon him all of the black stereotypes (positive and negative) that they could find... that was wise.

 

[Katsuro]

Gramatically, the "it" pronoun you used referred to the storyline, not to the thought process.



But it is some. And yes, logially the concept that ALL major superheroes make their home in America is pure suspension of disbelief. Someone simply decided that the idea that all major superheoes are white was either too much or an unnecessary suspension. But point taken, they did not take this thinking to it's logical conclusion, nor, in the interest of storytelling, should they.

As for "slave names," I, personally am thankful that they didn't name him Lincoln Washington. Terribly thankful. I appreciate that they gave him a normal name as opposed to laying upon him all of the black stereotypes (positive and negative) that they could find... that was wise.

Why not? The rings translate alien languages, certainly they can translate Mandarin Chinese or Spanish or something. I mean, when it comes to other super-heroes it can all be chalked up to coincidence. But Green Lanterns are specifically chosen out of the entire population of the world. Kinda silly that they only seem to come from America.

 

[Zar25]

I know this might sound a lil silly, but I'm not sure we really want to touch too much upon logic and reality on the subject, mainly cos for all intents and purposes this still is just a conversation about a comic book character for which a great suspension of disbelief needs to be held in governing the rules and laws of said universe. Application of logic is not always necessary.

I mean hey, in Japanese manga/anime its the japanese who are saving the world. Remember this is comics. The producers are generally gonna cast whoever they want to , as their pick of GL, whether it'd be Hal, Kyle or John.

Fans have their own picks too and that I think is okay. We're allowed to have favourites. Some ppl want Hal , some Kyle and some want John and hey old school fans might be more interested in Alan and that's cool too.

I'll be honest. I LOVE Kyle Rayner and my inner fanboy would squee with utter delight if the powers that be {producers) decide he's the one they want to kick off the franchise with.

That being said I'm not that blinded as to believe that Kyle should be the one end of story. If I were to go with reason and by reason I mean big, good, strong, solid reason, I'd have to go with Mr Hal Jordan.

Why ?

Because in comics Hal Jordan is the epitome of Green Lantern. He's what a Green Lantern should be. He defines it. He's the fearless hero. He's the one who like it or not , set the standard by which every other lantern is measured . When we look at the series he's the golden boy, he's the star and so bright was his shine , the writers of GL couldn't completely kill off his character, heck they kept bringing him back even when Hal was six feet under.

And Let's get something straight. We're not talking about the Justice League. We're talking GREEN LANTERN here.

In the league , the only places that are pretty much guaranteed are the Big Three cos they are the stars. Only one Superman (Clark/Kal) , Only one Batman (Bruce Wayne) and only one Wonder Woman (Diana) .They're the best. You can switch around with the roster but without the Big Three the league is hard pressed to stand. You can even pick either Wally or Barry for Flash but you can't change the Big Three. They are the pillars of the League.

In Green Lantern , Hal Jordan is the star. He's friggin Muhammad Ali. He's the greatest one there is. Hal is the pillar of GL. You can take away Kyle and John and even Alan and GL would still be able to work okay but oddly enough you can't have GL without Hal without it feeling kinda funny. It's like Catwoman without Selina kyle. It'll just suck.

My point is simple. Hal is the classic choice and in my opinion ( of which anyone is free to disagree with) if you want the best Green Lantern movie , you just gotta go with the best Green Lantern there is.

If you want John , you gotta create a good enough story to drive it through, doable but tricky. If you want Alan , you gotta update him, workable but still a bit of a hassle. If you want Kyle you gotta build Hal's history first cos that's who Kyle goes up against, feasible but shaky and ultimately confusing.

Hal's origin is straight forward. Hal's story is defined and epic. Hal's character is iconic and legend.


Hal Jordan IS Green Lantern. No two ways around it.


My push for Hal ? Ben Browder/ Eric Bana. And Please , feel free to disagree

 

[StorminNorman]

Actually John Stuart was created specifically because he was black. He was the defintion of a token character who was created specifically to be a minority.

from http://www.popcultureaddict.com/comicbooks/NealAdams.htm


Talk about stuck int he sixties, "slave names"
I also love how he thinks all whites are unconsiously racist, I know this storyline is supposed to be "socially advanced" but its no wonder it sold like stale s**t. Even for the times it was hackneyed, played out, and laughable.

I don't see how he was defined as a token character there? Neal Adams thought that there was no way the "best the Earth has" would all be white, and he has a damn good point. It makes perfectly logical sense.

 

[StorminNorman]

No because MOST people don't watch cartoons....it seems MOST comic fans forget this. Most people would probably remember him being white if anything.

I strongly disagree. Before Batman Begins I had never read a comic - period. But I watched Justice League, everyone I knew watch justice league, people who made fun of comics watched Justice League. For people who grew up with it on Cartoon Network, it was a popular show that most either watched, or at least were fairly familiar with.

Any non-comic person who knows who the Green Lantern is, KNOWS he is a black bad ass named John Stewart.

 

[StorminNorman]

The General Audience has never heard of Green Lantern period.

I disagree. Between Justice League being one of Cartoon Networks top shows, the merchandise that came with it, the WB embracing of John Stewart as the Green Lantern (Six Flag's have John Stewart characters, Halloween Costumes have him as a black kid), etc. most younger people (30 and younger) have at least heard of Green Lantern, and out of that, most know him to be black.

If WB was to make a Green Lantern movie, no doubt John Stewart would play a major role. Does that mean he would be the only Green Lantern? No, and I would hope a Green Lantern movie would include the aspect that it is an Elite GROUP through out the universe, would he be the main or one of the main GL's? Absolutely.

 

[The Guard]

Well, supposedly the last GREEN LANTERN pitch (the serious one) involved John Stewart training Kyle Rayner to stop Hal Jordan who was going Parallax. That's an angle I could see working on film. But I'd rather not see that in the first film of a franchise.

 

[StorminNorman]

Well, supposedly the last GREEN LANTERN pitch (the serious one) involved John Stewart training Kyle Rayner to stop Hal Jordan who was going Parallax. That's an angle I could see working on film. But I'd rather not see that in the first film of a franchise.

I agree, that should be the build up.

Perhaps have Hal Jordan train John Stewart, who then has to train the man who will kill his mentor. That would take a good 3-4 movie run, but you can't tell me that there isn't enough content in the GL history that you can fill up the time not spent building up to that battle.

 

[GL1]

I know this might sound a lil silly, but I'm not sure we really want to touch too much upon logic and reality on the subject, mainly cos for all intents and purposes this still is just a conversation about a comic book character for which a great suspension of disbelief needs to be held in governing the rules and laws of said universe. Application of logic is not always necessary.

I mean hey, in Japanese manga/anime its the japanese who are saving the world. Remember this is comics. The producers are generally gonna cast whoever they want to , as their pick of GL, whether it'd be Hal, Kyle or John.

Fans have their own picks too and that I think is okay. We're allowed to have favourites. Some ppl want Hal , some Kyle and some want John and hey old school fans might be more interested in Alan and that's cool too.

I'll be honest. I LOVE Kyle Rayner and my inner fanboy would squee with utter delight if the powers that be {producers) decide he's the one they want to kick off the franchise with.

That being said I'm not that blinded as to believe that Kyle should be the one end of story. If I were to go with reason and by reason I mean big, good, strong, solid reason, I'd have to go with Mr Hal Jordan.

Why ?

Because in comics Hal Jordan is the epitome of Green Lantern. He's what a Green Lantern should be. He defines it. He's the fearless hero. He's the one who like it or not , set the standard by which every other lantern is measured . When we look at the series he's the golden boy, he's the star and so bright was his shine , the writers of GL couldn't completely kill off his character, heck they kept bringing him back even when Hal was six feet under.

And Let's get something straight. We're not talking about the Justice League. We're talking GREEN LANTERN here.

In the league , the only places that are pretty much guaranteed are the Big Three cos they are the stars. Only one Superman (Clark/Kal) , Only one Batman (Bruce Wayne) and only one Wonder Woman (Diana) .They're the best. You can switch around with the roster but without the Big Three the league is hard pressed to stand. You can even pick either Wally or Barry for Flash but you can't change the Big Three. They are the pillars of the League.

In Green Lantern , Hal Jordan is the star. He's friggin Muhammad Ali. He's the greatest one there is. Hal is the pillar of GL. You can take away Kyle and John and even Alan and GL would still be able to work okay but oddly enough you can't have GL without Hal without it feeling kinda funny. It's like Catwoman without Selina kyle. It'll just suck.

My point is simple. Hal is the classic choice and in my opinion ( of which anyone is free to disagree with) if you want the best Green Lantern movie , you just gotta go with the best Green Lantern there is.

If you want John , you gotta create a good enough story to drive it through, doable but tricky. If you want Alan , you gotta update him, workable but still a bit of a hassle. If you want Kyle you gotta build Hal's history first cos that's who Kyle goes up against, feasible but shaky and ultimately confusing.

Hal's origin is straight forward. Hal's story is defined and epic. Hal's character is iconic and legend.


Hal Jordan IS Green Lantern. No two ways around it.


My push for Hal ? Ben Browder/ Eric Bana. And Please , feel free to disagree

Heh. Now, the core of your arguement: "Hal Jordan should be the GL of the movie because he's the golden boy and he's uber" is without arguement. Hal is the perfect superhero, and while that's the reason some don't like him, it appeals to some people, and, well, it's just true.

The other advantage is that Hal's orign has already been giving the royal treatment, so no thought is required from a director/writer, in fact, thought would be BAD from fans' perspective. So it's easy to imagine a Hal film. For people without imagination, Hal is DEFINITELY the way to go, cuz they can't conceive of "ED for John" or "ED for Kyle."

The rest of your post is crap and propaganda. "Hal is legend." "A non-Hal GL film is like Catwoman." "Hal Jordan IS Green Lantern." That's not reason, that's blind fanboy bias, completely devoid of logic and intelligence.

 

[Katsuro]

Well, supposedly the last GREEN LANTERN pitch (the serious one) involved John Stewart training Kyle Rayner to stop Hal Jordan who was going Parallax. That's an angle I could see working on film. But I'd rather not see that in the first film of a franchise.

That sounds like an okay premise for a movie... eventually. However, it sounds like a terrible opening film.

But even then, the unique thing about Kyle, at least in his early days, was that he didn't have training. He didn't even know what the Guardians were at first. He started out as basically a Spider-Man type of hero. Just a guy with powers trying to make it through life. So to start out with Kyle you'd either be missing out on the core of what makes Green Lanterns unique, or you'd be changing what made Kyle unique from the rest of the GLs. Heh, that's kind of a paradox when you think about it. Kyle's different from the rest of the Green Lanterns, because Green Lanterns are different from normal superheroes, but Kyle's the same as normal superheroes. But you get my point.

But I just dont see why we cant all be happy, and all get the movie we want eventually. I mean, from everything you've described about your dream John Stewart movie, it sounds to me like you could almost take that idea, change very, very little about it, and slap a Hal Jordan origin film BEFORE that. And that Kyle/John vs. Parralax movie you mentioned, that would fit in perfectly after the other one. Then you have a Hal movie, a John movie, and a Kyle movie right in a row, and fans of all are happy. Because honestly, I wouldn't want more than one movie where Hal is the only Earth GL.

 

[terry78]

The kids that watched Justice League know John Stewart as Green Lantern. That translates to him being THE GL if they choose to make a movie. As much as people gripe about it, kids bringing their parents and vice versa are the core of these superhero movie profits. There are never more adults going to these things than kids during the day.

 

[Katsuro]

Let's not forget the New Frontier movie coming out within the year. Hal Jordan is not only the main Green Lantern in that story, but he's pretty much the main character. I mean, Marvel put out an animated Iron Man movie to get people pumped for the live action film, maybe DC's trying to get Hal out there.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I strongly disagree. Before Batman Begins I had never read a comic - period. But I watched Justice League, everyone I knew watch justice league, people who made fun of comics watched Justice League. For people who grew up with it on Cartoon Network, it was a popular show that most either watched, or at least were fairly familiar with.

Any non-comic person who knows who the Green Lantern is, KNOWS he is a black bad ass named John Stewart.

I have no friends who watch Justice League...and in fact we looked it up already and 8-12 year olds watched Justice League NOT 18-24 year olds. People, teenagers, don't watch cartoons...they watch sports and play video games. It's not a matter of opinion. You post on a site with comic fans, that puts you in a VERY narrow group.