Green Lanterns Vs. Red Lanterns?
Bruce Timm unveils his upcoming GL animated series.
October 9, 2010
by Scott Collura
A Green Lantern movie isn't enough for you people, eh? You also want a Green Lantern animated TV series?! Well, you're in luck...
Space Sector 2814 -- specifically New York Comic Con -- was the place to be for all card-carrying members of the GL Corps today when Cartoon Network gave us a peek at what to expect from the upcoming show. DC animation legend Bruce Timm was on hand with producer Giancarlo Volpe (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and producer-story editor Jim Krieg (Ben 10: Alien Swarm) to recite that most sacred of oaths -- you know, the Brightest Day one…
Timm explained that he's always loved the character, dating back to the old cartoons from the 1960s and 1970s. Much of the show will take place in space as opposed to Earth, which will also offer the chance to do some new things.
With a laugh Volpe talked about how as a kid he plagiarized the Green Lantern with his own homemade character who had power gloves instead of a ring, and was blue rather than green.
Krieg remembered the Super Friends and how confounded he was as a boy that GL wasn't on every week… but Robin was!
Next we got a space-geography lesson from Krieg. A map of space was displayed for us, with Oa as the center of GL (or Guardian) space. Earth was also on the map, though Krieg joked that the map was not to scale. There are frontier Lanterns on the fringe of Guardian space, stationed few and far between, and as the show starts they're in trouble: it's the Red Lanterns. The bulk of the show will take place where RL and GL space intersect, as shown on the map.
A first-time exclusive look at concept art and 3D CGI turnarounds -- the show will be all CGI -- of the characters followed. Timm cautioned that the designs are still works in progress, but they looked pretty great all the same. First we saw Hal Jordan in his test pilot flight suit as well as in his GL suit. It's very much in Timm's style, but interpreted in CG 3D. Kilowog was next, looking quite shiny and stout. He'll be a big part of the show -- he's "Hal's BFF," said Timm, "his Murtaugh to Hal's Riggs." Atrocitus was next, the evil Red Lantern. Zilius Zox, who's basically a big gnarled head, was also on display. A new character named Ia -- think green and cute -- is being kept kind of mysterious for now by the producers, though they did hint that she has strong ties to the GL mythos. Carol Ferris looks… like Carol Ferris, and the Guardians all seem to have their own unique look: a goatee here, a mullet there. Salaak, with four arms and his conehead, will also be on the show.
The sets were also previewed: a California canyon, Carol Ferris' office, the Oa capital, the Guardian chamber, and a planet-scape called the Rigel ruins which is very 1950s sci-fi in its look with sever, jagged lines and red tones. Other scenes on display included Colony 12, a lava tunnel, the Shard Bridge which is the Red Lantern's headquarters, the Spider Guild prison and tunnel (taken from old GL mythology) and more.
Vehicles will also show up. Since the show takes place on the fringe of Guardian space, it can take around 18 months to get there. So Hal needs a spaceship, which he "borrows" from his bosses. It also ties into Hal's love of being a pilot, plus the ship serves the more practical reason of being a standing set, which is something that is needed in CGI.
Next up was a Q&A. Some highlights follow:
-- Will we see Guy Gardner? Tune in and see.
-- Will it tie into the rest of the Timm version of the DC universe? Not really, and there won't be much by way of crossovers with characters like Superman and Batman.
-- There will be some characters from the DC universe, but not the ones you'd expect.
-- They're staying away from Sinestro for now because of the movie franchise.
-- Why CGI? Timm says they've been interested for a while in getting into it, and this seemed perfect for the format because of the power ring constructs and the aliens and so on.
-- Expect social justice "up the wazoo," joked Krieg. The episode will have morals to the stories, though don't expect Hal to show up at the end and say things like, "Bullying is bad!"
-- In response to the suggestion that DC has no good villains, Timm joked that they decided to borrow some of Marvel's villains.
-- They're gonna skip over the origin story since they figure everyone will know it by the time the movie comes out. Plus, it's covered in a Gilligan's Island-type theme song.
-- The Black Lanterns might happen… eventually.
-- The voice cast is top secret right now.
-- It's not directly tied into the recent GL direct-to-DVD movie.
-- Chip will probably show up.
-- Each episode is standalone, but there is a "very strong" arc that ties them together.
-- Will Alan Scott show up? No comment.
-- Carol Ferris will be seen a lot even though the show won't spend much time on Earth. You do the math.
-- They expect it will be in a primetime slot.
-- Timm wants to do more CGI shows, but "hopes against hope" that 2D cartoons will continue too.
-- The animation is being done in Taiwan, but there are a lot of Americans handling design and storyboards and the such. "And they're all using the same bathroom."
-- "There are other kinds of Lanterns, and you will love them."
Test footage was then screened, featuring an early Hal Jordan model and some leftover models from Justice League. This was footage used when they were shopping around looking for an animation studio. It features Hal and Kilowog battling some alien soldiers, with Hal saying, "Come on, these guys aren't so bad." And then they open a door and an entire army of aliens are there. Kilowog says, "I'm getting too old for this." No "s#!t," but the Lethal Weapon comparison obviously stands.
Timm noted that they don't want the show to look like Clone Wars. As they were developing the series, they realized the characters looked like toys. And then they realized they liked that look. They want it to look stylized and make-believe -- the idea is not to go for realism and in fact The Incredibles has been one of the inspirations for the show.
By the way, Timm's favorite GL is Kilowog. Volpe likes Guy Gardner, and Krieg likes Chip.
Cartoon Network's animated Green Lantern will debut next year. It looks hot!
