The Official Marc Guggenheim & Script Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Keyser Soze]

I think the best description for Hammond is "placeholder villain". As has been said by a few, Sinestro is one of the best things in the script. But it's all build-up with him. What makes him great is that they develop him as a character, and a good man (if you can call a red-skinned alien a man), merely foreshadowing his descent into evil.

I think if they were to ham-fist Sinestro into the role of villain for the third act, it would hurt Sinestro's arc here, and make the brief moments of growing friendship between Hal and Sinestro just seem like a cheap plot device. However, if they hold off on Sinestro's turn to villainy for the sequel, while building the Hal/Sinestro friendship in this film like they do in the script, then it means "Green Lantern 2" is set to have a villain with real emotional heft and dramatic weight behind him.

So Hammond's there to fulfil the role of villain for this movie while Sinestro gets built up for the next one, and IMO the character achieves this okay. And it's also the not-unheard-of practise of including a throwaway villain in the first film so you can devote more time to the hero's origin. So in this instance the villain here is largely a plot device that represents what our protagonists need to do to truly become a hero. For another example see: Al Ghul, Ra's. And like with the Batman series, the GL franchise should get its "Joker" with the second film.

 

[The Guard]

If Hammond's going to be a placeholding villain, he needs to be a relevant one, and closer to Ra's Al Ghul in terms of quality than The Scarecrow. Since much is made about the alien nature of the GL Corps, Hammond could have better ties to the FBI, or some sort of government alien task force. He also needs a motivation about ten times better than the one he has.

Building up Sinestro is all well and good, however I don't think the "friendship" shown between Hal and Sinestro is so amazing and weighty that it excuses missing the opportunity to use Sinestro as the villain in the first movie. There's just not that much to it.

There are multiple methods that could work for a Green Lantern franchise. But Legion and Hammond, compared to Sinestro, don't work all that well in their present incarnations. They just need more to them.

 

[Evil Twin]

I really don't have a problem with saving Sinestro as a villain for a 2nd movie. But, I think you can't make the assumption right off the bat that there will be a second GL movie. Certainly I wouldn't use Batman as an example since Batman has a much higher awareness and interest from the general public. Even then, B89 led off with The Joker. Leading with your best is still a good general principle.

That said, I'm not sure that GL vs. Sinestro has any real resonance among the general public either. That said, you definitely want to make sure that the villains you do use are memorable and interesting. That's something we really can't say for Hammond in the first draft.

 

[I Am The Knight]

I really don't have a problem with saving Sinestro as a villain for a 2nd movie. But, I think you can't make the assumption right off the bat that there will be a second GL movie. Certainly I wouldn't use Batman as an example since Batman has a much higher awareness and interest from the general public. Even then, B89 led off with The Joker. Leading with your best is still a good general principle.

It's a gamble, but it should pay off.

That said, I'm not sure that GL vs. Sinestro has any real resonance among the general public either. That said, you definitely want to make sure that the villains you do use are memorable and interesting. That's something we really can't say for Hammond in the first draft.

Right. It has no resonance to them because they don't know the characters. People will be more attracted to the GL concept itself as a whole, so I think you can save the important villain for the second film.

 

[Spade]

It would be interesting if they made Sinestro's turn a plot point in the first film. I feel like it runs the risk of rushing things, but since there would be plenty of room without Hammond to add even more development it could work. I'm just shooting out ideas, but...maybe you could have Sinestro carve out a hunk of Legion in secret, put on the resulting ring, and find himself pitted against the Corps when he shares this new power with them. For the character gaps in between, maybe an idea of what his world is like could be developed. Just ideas, of course, but something that I think would be much more interesting than Hammond's current story arc.

 

[solidsnake86]

I really don't have a problem with saving Sinestro as a villain for a 2nd movie. But, I think you can't make the assumption right off the bat that there will be a second GL movie. Certainly I wouldn't use Batman as an example since Batman has a much higher awareness and interest from the general public. Even then, B89 led off with The Joker. Leading with your best is still a good general principle.

That said, I'm not sure that GL vs. Sinestro has any real resonance among the general public either. That said, you definitely want to make sure that the villains you do use are memorable and interesting. That's something we really can't say for Hammond in the first draft.

I completely agree with not saving a villain for a second film when you dont even know if there will be one. If this were superman I would completely agree. However, with Green Lantern you are also right in that no one probably knows that sinestro is a villain.

I don't know a great deal about the green lantern comics and dont really know if hammond and legion are very big villains within his universe. All I know is that sinestro is. But than again they just brought hal back what, 4 years ago, so they are most likely reinventing all of his villains or adding depth to them. It was all about the timing of this script and I'm wondering if they would have followed Secret Origins as opposed to emerald dawn now because it seems to have added to the mythos from what people are saying. Like the addition of Hammond as carols boyfriend, abins reason for going to earth and atrocitus as the villain.

 

[SonikDeath]

Could someone PM me the script, please ?

 

[Dark Knight]

If Hammond's going to be a placeholding villain, he needs to be a relevant one, and closer to Ra's Al Ghul in terms of quality than The Scarecrow. Since much is made about the alien nature of the GL Corps, Hammond could have better ties to the FBI, or some sort of government alien task force. He also needs a motivation about ten times better than the one he has.

Building up Sinestro is all well and good, however I don't think the "friendship" shown between Hal and Sinestro is so amazing and weighty that it excuses missing the opportunity to use Sinestro as the villain in the first movie. There's just not that much to it.

There are multiple methods that could work for a Green Lantern franchise. But Legion and Hammond, compared to Sinestro, don't work all that well in their present incarnations. They just need more to them.

Yeah I agree....the writers need to add more substance to Hammonds character instead of just having him there as a fill in villian per say.

 

[Webhead2006]

Hopefully they have in the later drafts, or they can easily just write out the character and save him for second film with sinstro as fully baddy.

 

[Keyser Soze]

It's precisely BECAUSE Green Lantern (and therefore Sinestro) aren't well known that you can't just throw in Sinestro as the villain of the first film.

To the general filmgoing public, this film will be their introduction of "Green Lantern". So it seems a shame and a waste to make Sinestro the throwaway origin movie bad guy. He'll have no resonance with viewers whatsoever, because like you say, they don't know Sinestro from Adam. It's just "Oh, that's the bad guy for this film, then?"

But if you build Sinestro up as a heroic figure in the first film, by the time the (hypothetical) second film comes around filmgoers WILL know Sinestro, and therefore his fall to villainy WILL carry dramatic heft.

 

[Katsuro]

To all these people demanding Hammond have more motivation, can I ask what you'd suggest? I keep hearing that people dont like his character, but I'm not seeing too many suggestions for how to improve it.

I really didn't mind the character. He's a lot better developed than Obidiah Stane, for sure. Only thing he needs is an actor of Jeff Bridges quality, and he'll do just fine. Like I said earlier, if anything they should beef up Legion, and make him the main villain. Keep Hammond as he is and he'll work just fine as a secondary villain.

 

[Jack Ups]

can someone pm the script to me please....cheers

 

[The Guard]

There's no one way to do things.

Just because these writers couldn't write "one shot villain" Hector Hammond worth a damn (I.E, make him interesting beyond his powers) doesn't mean that Sinestro wouldn't be. There's no law that says a character has to be "saved" to work out well in the long run. Exhibit A: Magneto in the X-Men franchise.

It's precisely BECAUSE Green Lantern (and therefore Sinestro) aren't well known that you can't just throw in Sinestro as the villain of the first film.

Well, of course you can't just "throw" anything into a film. You'd have to carefully craft his introduction and use, but it would work as well as anything else, executed properly. I refuse to believe that these screenwriters, who obviously felt they could make Legion AND Hammond AND Sinestro work, would believe they couldn't create a compelling villain in Sinestro. Saving him for the second film was their choice, not a neccessity.

When I can get the damn thing online...I want you all to read my 2-day GREEN LANTERN script (imperfect as it is), which features both Hal's origin and Sinestro as the villain. And then I want you to tell me that Sinestro somehow "suffers" or wouldn't be a viable "arch villain" because he wasn't saved till the second film.

To the general filmgoing public, this film will be their introduction of "Green Lantern". So it seems a shame and a waste to make Sinestro the throwaway origin movie bad guy. He'll have no resonance with viewers whatsoever, because like you say, they don't know Sinestro from Adam. It's just "Oh, that's the bad guy for this film, then?"

Just like Ra's Al Ghul had no resonance for viewers? Just like The Joker didn't?It's all about the execution. Obviously, if he's to be more than "This film's villain", his motivations need to be built up as such. That's entirely possible.

But if you build Sinestro up as a heroic figure in the first film, by the time the (hypothetical) second film comes around filmgoers WILL know Sinestro, and therefore his fall to villainy WILL carry dramatic heft.

There's no reason you couldn't also build him up as a hero in one film, and have him gradually turn, then become the villain.

Let me also point out...there's nothing so interesting about Sinestro in the Berlanti GL draft that it makes me care about "knowing" him. He was a reckless Green Lantern who was obviously very capable, but nothing spectacular in terms of characterization. He existed to lead the GL Corp and to tell Hal what his ring does, and how it works, etc. Granted, he had some nice moments (the talk about the "green"), but nothing that couldn't have existed in his capacity as Hal's mentor AND villain in a script where he has an entirely different purpose.

To all these people demanding Hammond have more motivation, can I ask what you'd suggest? I keep hearing that people dont like his character, but I'm not seeing too many suggestions for how to improve it.

Well, for starters, if you're going to do the "daddy issue" thing, give him an actual thematically relevant parallell with Hal Jordan and his father. Something concrete that he and Jordan can have between them, not "Hey, I also have a father!" In addition, since his powers are extraterrestrial, as are the GLs, and "aliens" are a big part of this story, extraterrestrial themes could be explored. Don't make him just a coroner, make him something more important that has to do with aliens. His father could still see him as a failure, as wasiting his life, but it would be because he was searching for extraterrestrial life, not because he was just a random loser. And he wouldn't be quite so damn cliche and hollow, because Hammond would have something to DRIVE him that sets him apart. Make him a friend of Alan Scott's, even. Hell, there are a number of things you could do with our first contact with ET life, and his desire to use alien power to alter history, etc, and the idea that he can't control that type of power. I'm not asking for him to be JJ Abrams' Lex Luthor, but maybe something similar.

I really didn't mind the character. He's a lot better developed than Obidiah Stane, for sure.

That's not saying much. At least Obadiah had a slightly interesting motivation/character arc. Granted, he was always going to "turn", but at least his "turn" had some impact. With Hammond, he's just this weasel, you know he's a weasel, and you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. And when he does become evil, it's just evil for the sake of it. Boring. Thank goodness he has powers.

 

[solidsnake86]

Obviously they chose not to use sinestro as the villain and its too late to be making massive changes so really its a moot point. I guess we can all agree that Hammond needs some fleshing out and that is something rewrites can solve. Besides, when was this first draft handed in?

 

[AnorexicBatman]

PM me the script please!!

 

[Dark Knight]

I'm glad Sinestro is being saved as the main baddie for the sequel. However, perhaps they should use an ending that hints he will be the baddie in the next film in the end?

 

[The Guard]

Nah...Sinestro's cleverly written childish outbursts more than accomplish that.

 

[protocida]

What would you like to see in the new draft of the Script, even it it's unlikeable that it will happen?

I'll post my full list later on, but, for start, i'd like Hal's mom death to be adressed. I tought her death was such a powerful moment from the comics that it should be translated to the silver screen.

For those who don't know, here's what happens:

Spoiler

Hal's mom never liked that her husband was a pilot. She always tought it was something dangerous. That's why neither her nor Jim or Jack, Hal's brothers, go the Martin's demonstration, where he dies. She makes Hal swear he'll never become a pilot, which was his dream, so, he runs away when he's 18 and joins Air Force. Later on, Hal discovers thanks to his brother Jim that their mother is sick and will die soon. He wants to see her, but she says she'll only see him when he's no longer a pilot, and his overprotective brother Jack makes sure that Hal can't see her before that.

Hal steals a jet to have one last ride before being suspended for stealing it, but his superior won't suspend him, so, Hal punches him and it's expelled. He is no longer a pilot. When he goes see his mother, he discovers she died the previous day, and is left without nothing.

 

[Changeling]

Damn. Thats pretty heavy.

 

[protocida]

Green Lantern's third draft is 127 pages, in oposition to the first draft, that had only 107 pages. According to Latino Review's El Mayimbe, the third draft is the final Script that's going to be filmed.

Sounds good. t:

 

[AnorexicBatman]

Has Tom's character been written out?
I only read the first draft and I know I dislike him!

Hal: I have discovered the greatest power in the universe... but at what cost? Farewell, Abin Sur... Fly true...Fly...

Tom: OMG! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!! I BEAT HALO 3!!! OMG!!! I CAN HAS SPACESHIPZ!!!!

Nerds aren't like that. I'm a Nerd! Hell Tom should be far more serious!

 

[I Am The Knight]

I'm with you. I don't want Tom to be written out, though; I want him to be written differently.

 

[DarkSuperman]

I'm with you. I don't want Tom to be written out, though; I want him to be written differently.

I agree totally. He could be a tad more serious.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

Tom could be a bit more Alfred-ish
Hal's consciousness...

EDIT:

I also noticed Hal's much more depressed than Bruce
All those nasty flashbacks...
No wonder GL and Bats are friends (comics verse)

 

[cryptic name]

i really enjoyed reading this. with a few minor tweeks it could be a great GL flick. i really enjoyed the handling of Sinestro, establishing him as a great, veteran green lantern and just barely hinting at the future promise of a yellow power ring. the action and ring constructs will be amazing to see, the carol ferris rescue, i thought, was great.