The Official Green Lantern Rumors/Speculation Thread - Part 1

[Astro13Zombie]

The idea of Hal dying at the end actually really works for me.
John seems to be the more popular Lantern of the two and it would make sense to shift the focus entirely to him in possible sequels.
I can’t imagine them doing the buddy cop thing for more than one movie.
Getting Hal in there as an important character and giving him a meaningful end would work really well I think.

 

[KalvinEllis]

How is he more popular? Hal has been featured in nearly everything DC has ever done with GL or the Justice League outside of comics, John has been in one popular cartoon, a select few video games and not much else. Sabotaging one character in order to prop another isn't the way to go.

 

[KalvinEllis]

It is not clickbait, he has been mentioned a lot lately. I've heard interviews with McQuarrie during Fallout and he has been asked about Tom potentially being in Green Lantern and he didn't said "that's nonsense" or "I don't know about that", but more like (and I'm paraphrasing) "if he likes the script, he will do it".

What else is expected of McQuarrie to say? Matthew Vaughn has said similar things when he was being asked about directing Man of Steel 2. Of course it's been mentioned a lot, that's what clickbait is about, "scoopers" taking something and running with it regardless of its validity.

 

[Astro13Zombie]

How is he more popular? Hal has been featured in nearly everything DC has ever done with GL or the League outside of comics, John has been in one popular cartoon, a select few video games and not much else. Sabotaging one character in order to prop another isn't the way to go.

Hal is my favorite of the two.
But from what I’ve seen? John is the one that people want.

I’m pretty sure that one popular cartoon is the main reason

 

[KalvinEllis]

If by "people" you refer to the reactionary outrage brigade on social media, you'd have a point. They hardly represent the general moviegoing audience though, no matter how hard they like to pretend they do. And it's a good thing the GL character is not defined by a 20 year old cartoon.

Regardless, I recognize John Stewart's popularity and I don't have a problem with him being there at all, I just disagree with this alleged plan that they want to kill off Hal Jordan in order to put Stewart in his place. That makes no sense to me and I believe the Hal Jordan character deserves better after what this incompetent studio did to him last time.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Unfortunately for Hal more people have familiarity with Jon from JL/JLU (which ended in 2006, so it's not a two decade old cartoon) which reached a much wider audience than the entirety of Hal's post Rebirt run. That's just the reality of the difference in audience between comic books that barely reach over 150,000 copies a month and a popular and well remembered TV show.


That's just reality, and I say that as someone that is a Hal fan and have him as my preference in leading a GL franchise. But I could also live with aa Tory that had a paying of the torch. I was disappointed that the JLU toon never had Hal but it was still a GREAT adaptation of those characters.

 

[KalvinEllis]

Who said anything about comics though, I said "outside of comics". Cartoons, multiple animated movies, video games, live-action, merchandise, etc. Hal has been consistently featured in all of those for years. I'm fully aware the comic book market can only reach a limited audience and Hal has been exposed to the general audience through the aforementioned products for more than a decade now, or even much earlier if we were to take Super Friends into account. So this situation isn't a question of popularity or perceived lack there of.

The only case to make against the character is the 2011 movie and even that logic is flawed since the movie did not turn out the way it did because of who the protagonist was. The DCEU would feature a different Hal Jordan that hopefully is as far away from the Reynolds version as possible. If they do plan to have him there as the older mentor figure whose entire purpose in the story is limited to being the new guy's stepping stone who gets killed off in the end, then why even have him there at all? You can easily give the mentor role to Kilowog or Salaak instead. John is more than competent enough to not need Hal to babysit him and Hal deserves better than being turned into a peripheral character who can't even make it past the first movie, based on a series that he's headlined for 50 out of the 60 years the franchise has been around the way we know it today.

 

[Greenlite]

I don't know much about GL except WB made it bomb in 2011 with Ryan and there're a 2 famous lanterns.

I do know if Tom takes the role and the quality is good, this thing will make BANK outside US (400-500M locked) and 200M in US is not out of the question.

Think Will Smith and SS, but hopefully slightly better quality =P

Sean Harris as Sinestro, Ferguson as Denvers, Rhyme as the big dude or John Stewart j/k, Simon Pegg....surely there's a comic relief or tech guy in space right? =P

 

[Greenlite]

Also he won't use the Ring's power of flight, he'll just run everywhere.

lmao!!

 

[Lantern Venom]

Unfortunately for Hal more people have familiarity with Jon from JL/JLU (which ended in 2006, so it's not a two decade old cartoon) which reached a much wider audience than the entirety of Hal's post Rebirt run. That's just the reality of the difference in audience between comic books that barely reach over 150,000 copies a month and a popular and well remembered TV show.


That's just reality, and I say that as someone that is a Hal fan and have him as my preference in leading a GL franchise. But I could also live with aa Tory that had a paying of the torch. I was disappointed that the JLU toon never had Hal but it was still a GREAT adaptation of those characters.

Hal is still the most famous GL by a large margin. Even beyond the comics, he's the most adapted GL in animation. Not only does he have the most appearances in the animated DC features, but he's been the main GL in 3 different animated versions of the JL (Super Friends/A&S Power Hour/JL Action), not to mention he's the only GL who has had his own series.

While it's true that Guy, Hal, John, Simon, and Jessica have had plenty of stories in the comics on their own, they're all linked to Hal in some important way. Even if the GLC movie eventually puts Hal in a Hank Pym role to focus on John or Simon/Jessica, he still has to be there in some capacity or it dramatically alters huge portions of the GLC history.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I don't know much about GL except WB made it bomb in 2011 with Ryan and there're a 2 famous lanterns.

There have been 6 different Green Lantern characters to headline books, 7 if you count Alan Scott.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Also he won't use the Ring's power of flight, he'll just run everywhere.

Flight Impossible: Green Lantern Protocol.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Who said anything about comics though, I said "outside of comics". Cartoons, multiple animated movies, video games, live-action, merchandise, etc. Hal has been consistently featured in all of those for years. I'm fully aware the comic book market can only reach a limited audience and Hal has been exposed to the general audience through the aforementioned products for more than a decade now, or even much earlier if we were to take Super Friends into account. So this situation isn't a question of popularity or perceived lack there of.

The only case to make against the character is the 2011 movie and even that logic is flawed since the movie did not turn out the way it did because of who the protagonist was. The DCEU would feature a different Hal Jordan that hopefully is as far away from the Reynolds version as possible. If they do plan to have him there as the older mentor figure whose entire purpose in the story is limited to being the new guy's stepping stone who gets killed off in the end, then why even have him there at all? You can easily give the mentor role to Kilowog or Salaak instead. John is more than competent enough to not need Hal to babysit him and Hal deserves better than being turned into a peripheral character who can't even make it past the first movie, based on a series that he's headlined for 50 out of the 60 years the franchise has been around the way we know it today.

You act as though I am saying my thoughts are about what "should" be. I prefer Hal to every other GL out there. But a generation grew up with John and the argument can (and inside the halls of WB probably has been made) be made to feature Stewart instead because of JLU's popularity. What's the sales of the DTVs as compared to JL/JLU? What's the critical response from the fans between the two? Or have I just imagined all the fans that keep saying Bruce Timm should be in charge of the films all these years? The visibility of the DTVs is nowhere near the DCAU toons in the fandom. That's gotta play into the decisions in WB.

Look, I am a Hal fan through and through. I want him to be the lead character in a film franchise because like you I think he's THE GL despite the nature of the concept and the number of times the mantle has been passed around. But fan indignation doesn't change that there are factors that could well work against them putting Hal in the spotlight which includes that despite being in DTVs and follow up animated shows like YOUNG JUSTICE or INJUSTICE games JLU with John just had a wider audience and is more popular with fans especially the ones that grew up with it than those other projects that have Hal as GL. That's not even getting into the "diversity" issue which in a post BLACK PANTHER BO world is likely also a factor in WB's thinking on the matter. These are not inconsiderate factors no matter how much boosting Hal gets from a Geoff Johns behind the scenes or what's been done in comics for years since Hal returned. I hope they hew to the traditional approach and give us a proper Hal GL movie with him as the primary Lanten from Earth but I am also aware that there are reasons why they might not do that. Whether one likes it or not you CAN make a compelling argument not based on fan rose tinted glasses to pass over Hal for John.


Let me put it this way... I lived with Guy being the only visible GL for years, I lived with Kyle taking over, I lived with John being in JLU and if it comes to it I'll have to live with this GLC movie possibly passing over Hal in favor of John. I'm being realistic given how frankly NO super hero movie has been some kind of one for one recreation of the books and their history. We all should be used to that by now.

 

[KalvinEllis]

I don't need him to be "the" GL in the DCEU, I want him to be done justice, that he wasn't last time around. After the dump they took in him in 2011, to just turn him into an old supporting character who gets killed off in the end, all so they could push another character just because some people may or may not remember seeing that character in a cartoon when they were kids, is doing a huge disservice to the former.

And please, I don't need a lecture about "biased fans with no business sense". Never in my comments did I suggest that WB should ignore John Stewart, I said they should not use Hal Jordan to prop him up. If you're going to reboot GL and still have Hal Jordan in it, make him as important as the other character(s) that are featured. I don't think this is really too much to ask.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I don't need him to be "the" GL in the DCEU, I want him to be done justice, that he wasn't last time around. After the dump they took in him in 2011, to just turn him into an old supporting character who gets killed off in the end, all so they could push another character just because some people may or may not remember seeing that character in a cartoon when they were kids, is doing a huge disservice to the former.

And please, I don't need a lecture about "biased fans with no business sense". Never in my comments did I suggest that WB should ignore John Stewart, I said they should not use Hal Jordan to prop him up. If you're going to reboot GL and still have Hal Jordan in it, make him as important as the other character(s) that are featured. I don't think this is really too much to ask.

You don't want to sound like a fan that is being dismissive of arguments against Hal being featured but your language actually does indicate that you are in my view. Sorry to say but "doing a character justice" is an emotional POV. If it had weight to it there would be TONS of very popular CBMs that would be different. Hank Pam and Janet would be the Ant-Man and Wasp in the MCU. Bane would have been a lone wolf self made antogonist with Venom coursing through his veins. Etc, etc.

And again, you seem to be mistaken in thinking that I want them to put Hal on the back burner or, yes, be used as a character to "prop up" Stewart. That is not my preference. But I am not blinded that they could well make that choice and that there are reasons that are separate from fans wanting "justice" for a character that have weight to them. Hal is a fictional character and they are gonna use him however they see fit and I have zero control over that and what's an even more bitter pill to swallow if they go forward using the approach I don't advocate and the film is still good and is a hit well, that's just the way it will be, my feelings for "Justice" for the character not withstanding.

 

[DyeLorean]

What else is expected of McQuarrie to say? Matthew Vaughn has said similar things when he was being asked about directing Man of Steel 2. Of course it's been mentioned a lot, that's what clickbait is about, "scoopers" taking something and running with it regardless of its validity.

Technically everything is clickbait. Everyone wants the clicks.

 

[harlequinade]

Is the source for all of this just this blind item? Because that's really not a good source of info. And we believe it then we should believe other stuff that dude puts up blind items about and let me tell you it's not pretty

 

[KalvinEllis]

You don't want to sound like a fan that is being dismissive of arguments against Hal being featured but your language actually does indicate that you are in my view. Sorry to say but "doing a character justice" is an emotional POV.

If you're part of a comment board discussing movie adaptations of characters that you're a fan of and you think that you should do so with no emotional attachment, because otherwise somehow it makes you "dismissive" towards another point of view, then I frankly don't get what we are doing here. I believe I was more than fair, given what we currently have been offered to speculate about.

And again, you seem to be mistaken in thinking that I want them to put Hal on the back burner or, yes, be used as a character to "prop up" Stewart. That is not my preference. But I am not blinded that they could well make that choice and that there are reasons that are separate from fans wanting "justice" for a character that have weight to them. Hal is a fictional character and they are gonna use him however they see fit and I have zero control over that and what's an even more bitter pill to swallow if they go forward using the approach I don't advocate and the film is still good and is a hit well, that's just the way it will be, my feelings for "Justice" for the character not withstanding.

Neither am I, but I'm not a studio executive, I'm a paying customer. As such, I'm entitled to express doubts and criticism towards rumors involving these characters, especially the type of characters the studio has already handled in a hugely incompetent manner before. It's their money, they can of course choose to handle the characters in any way they see fit, the same way I can choose whether or not to spend my own money on their product depending on how they treat the specific characters that I happen to take interest in.

 

[marcvader]

Count me in the group of Hal Jordan being the Lantern I grew up with and beyond. Outside of the one cartoon with Jon Stewart, it's always been Hall in pretty much everything. I'm in the +40 bracket by the way so I've seen a lot of him.

 

[Aurakles]

I'm keen on Cruise getting involved, solely because he might bring someone else in to work on the script.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I'm fine with Cruise. And I'm even fine with Hal dying as long as it's a heroic death that occurs at the end. If it's at the beginning of the film or something, I'm not keen on that idea.

But above all else, HELL NO to Wahlberg as Hal. You thought Reynolds was miscast? Well, let's just double down on the miscasting, shall we?

 

[The Guard]

Another day, another old rumor that fans have been discussing as a hope for the franchise recycled as clickbait. Wouldn’t this be a bit “obvious” a move for Cruise after Top Gun 2? I don’t doubt there’s a camp in WB that wants Cruise...there are certainly worse choices, but...

 

[Iceman]

I'm fine with Cruise. And I'm even fine with Hal dying as long as it's a heroic death that occurs at the end. If it's at the beginning of the film or something, I'm not keen on that idea.

But above all else, HELL NO to Wahlberg as Hal. You thought Reynolds was miscast? Well, let's just double down on the miscasting, shall we?

Yeah, Hal dying near the beginning of a new GL film is not what I'm after, even if the rest of the film is really good.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah, that would suck. And I wonder if that's what happens if Cruise passing on the movie is indeed true. I mean, I can't think of any Cruise films where he dies at the end, but regardless, I can't see him wanting to play a character who gets shockingly killed off early on in the movie.

 

[Ninjablade]

Yeah, that would suck. And I wonder if that's what happens if Cruise passing on the movie is indeed true. I mean, I can't think of any Cruise films where he dies at the end, but regardless, I can't see him wanting to play a character who gets shockingly killed off early on in the movie.

I mean I guess you could technically say Oblivion since his main character was dies at the end.

Edit: Of course that only includes films he's playing his usual hero role. He does die in Vanilla Sky (depending on how you interpret the ending) and Collateral.

But yeah I couldn't see him doing a role where he dies early in a film unless it's a comedy.