What Do You NOT Want To See In A GL Movie?

[protocida]

I'm not saying I don't want him in, but I don't want three movies focused solely on him and I don't want Hal as Parallax either.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

I wouldnt mind Hal as Parallax as long as it only lasts for one movie and it's treated more like the symbiote from Spider-Man.

"The heroes battle with his darker self" sorta thing. That would be why he retires, in fact. When he beats Parallax at the end of GL 3, he conquers his own demons once and for all and tells Ganthet to give his ring to someone else. "Someone who needs it".

 

[protocida]

I wouldn't want to see that.

I'd prefer Kyle being recruited much like the Comics, but by Hal, in order to face the Sinestro Corps or any other threat.

 

[Drakon]

Of course, he's interesting enough... He's the Torchbearer.

Kyle is kind of like the Luke Skywalker to Hal's Anakin/Vader.

Whether you like him or not, he's HUGELY important to GL mythology. I'm not saying he should be in the first few movies, but if he's not in the series AT ALL, then it's not really Green Lantern, is it?
It's just... I dunno, "The Hal Jordan's awesome" series.

That's actually a brilliant analogy. I can't believe I never really thought of that.

 

[Webhead2006]

ya that would be a cool thing to do.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

That's actually a brilliant analogy. I can't believe I never really thought of that.

doublepost

 

[Wesley Dodds]

That's actually a brilliant analogy. I can't believe I never really thought of that.

Thanks, man!

 

[BULLITT]

The ring defeated by pee.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

The ring defeated by pee.

Yeah, leave that for the inevitable Porno Parodies.

 

[Fresh Prince]

I want a combination of Blade Runner and Fifth Element.

 

[Mindreaper21]

I want a combination of Blade Runner and Fifth Element.

wow...that would be a sight to see.

I don't want any cheesy looking at the camera and giving the thumbs up or saying something stupid. I HATE that with a passion...I would, however, like to see the movie with a sort of grimey look. Not like a SAW movie, but like Independence Day.

 

[Fresh Prince]

It do not have to be cheesy or anything like that but take the good of Fifth Element and mix that with all the greatness of Blade Runner, and you have an epic movie.

 

[slothbp]

I'm open to anything as long as Green Lantern doesn't have a weakness to the color yellow. And maybe lose that oath too. It's a bit post officy.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I know mine won't happen at all, considering the casting, but I really don't like Hal Jordan as Green Lantern--I honestly wonder if he wasn't the first "modern" GL if he would have actually been used at all. He's very bland, has no real personality, his best moments have been when he was a political punching bag for Green Arrow...his only real great moments have been when he was Parallax--like what Wesley mentioned, if written right he could be the Darth Vader of the GL franchise.

 

[Octoberist]

well, Hal Jordan is currently the Green Lantern.

Have you read anything from Geoff John's run? It seems like you're pulling arcs from years past. I mean, nothing against what you said, but sometimes when I hear things like this, and if I'm guessing right, it's all from hardcore purists. But I'm also sure when Frank Miller (or O' Neil) changed Batman back to his darker detective roots, I'm sure people complained back then too.

 

[Drakon]

I'm open to anything as long as Green Lantern doesn't have a weakness to the color yellow. And maybe lose that oath too. It's a bit post officy.

Okay I will openly admit that it does sound like the postman's oath, but for them to decide to just ditch it entirely? That'd be worse than the whole Superman Blue fiasco.

 

[Keyser Soze]

well, Hal Jordan is currently the Green Lantern.

Have you read anything from Geoff John's run? It seems like you're pulling arcs from years past. I mean, nothing against what you said, but sometimes when I hear things like this, and if I'm guessing right, it's all from hardcore purists. But I'm also sure when Frank Miller (or O' Neil) changed Batman back to his darker detective roots, I'm sure people complained back then too.

The problem with the "hardcore purists" who hate Hal Jordan is, there's just no way to make them happy. If Hal is portrayed in fearless, cocky, carefree Silver Age style, he's a bland, obnoxious Mary-Sue. If writers try and add more nuance to him, make him have more doubts or anger issues, then he's an emo whiner. They complain when he plays too much of a central, pivotal role in Green Lantern, or now Blackest Night, as if the main character being of crucial importance to a story is somehow an unconventional narrative ploy. Someone actually said "He's like the Norman Osborn of DC, being shoved down our throat everywhere", when at that point he was literally appearing in only 1 book a month. He gets singled out as "the boring guy", when he acts exactly like a whole other bunch of superheroes who somehow have way more fanboy cred.

I may be making a sweeping generalisation here, and if I am I apologise, but it would seem that the big, unforgivable flaw of Hal Jordan in the eyes of these people, the flaw that informs everything else and will always work against him no matter how he is written.... is that he's not Kyle Rayner.

 

[Octoberist]

The problem with the "hardcore purists" who hate Hal Jordan is, there's just no way to make them happy. If Hal is portrayed in fearless, cocky, carefree Silver Age style, he's a bland, obnoxious Mary-Sue. If writers try and add more nuance to him, make him have more doubts or anger issues, then he's an emo whiner. They complain when he plays too much of a central, pivotal role in Green Lantern, or now Blackest Night, as if the main character being of crucial importance to a story is somehow an unconventional narrative ploy. Someone actually said "He's like the Norman Osborn of DC, being shoved down our throat everywhere", when at that point he was literally appearing in only 1 book a month. He gets singled out as "the boring guy", when he acts exactly like a whole other bunch of superheroes who somehow have way more fanboy cred.

I may be making a sweeping generalisation here, and if I am I apologise, but it would seem that the big, unforgivable flaw of Hal Jordan in the eyes of these people, the flaw that informs everything else and will always work against him no matter how he is written.... is that he's not Kyle Rayner.

You hit the nail right on the head.

I do have to say that, while I don't understand the arguments against Hal, I do see it with Barry Allen (though I've accepted his character). Wally as The Flash has been beloved by many, so I can see why people are very protective of that character.

When people bring up Kyle as the Green Lantern, my problem is this: He came in to be the 'new modern' Green Lantern. He's not a bad character but he came in a bad situation where's the only Green Lantern out there and the Corps was gone. Because of that, it takes away a lot from the mythos when he was the MAIN Green Lantern.

Maybe if they brought the Corps back, along with Sinestro, and kept Kyle, it COULD work but I can't shake the feeling that Kyle was a little lightweight. To me, he never achieved the success of Wally West.

 

[Keyser Soze]

You hit the nail right on the head.

I do have to say that, while I don't understand the arguments against Hal, I do see it with Barry Allen (though I've accepted his character). Wally as The Flash has been beloved by many, so I can see why people are very protective of that character.

When people bring up Kyle as the Green Lantern, my problem is this: He came in to be the 'new modern' Green Lantern. He's not a bad character but he came in a bad situation where's the only Green Lantern out there and the Corps was gone. Because of that, it takes away a lot from the mythos when he was the MAIN Green Lantern.

Maybe if they brought the Corps back, along with Sinestro, and kept Kyle, it COULD work but I can't shake the feeling that Kyle was a little lightweight. To me, he never achieved the success of Wally West.

I have nothing against Kyle Rayner. Though I like Hal more, I think Kyle too is a great character. But like you say, though the strength of the character rose above it, his conception was an act of 90s gimmickry, the kind of destructive revisionist piffle that has made comic creators try their best to sweep the whole decade under the rug. Here's the thing, though. I hear a lot about how Kyle is being buried, how he's being sabotaged. I don't see that. I see him as an equal among peers. But that's just it. For years, Kyle fans were told over and over that Kyle was the last Green Lantern, the torchbearer, the one shining light in the universe. The whole GL mythos was destroyed just to make him more important. So it's kinda understandable that making him share the spotlight seems like character assassination to some.

As for Barry Allen, I have nothing against him either. He has his own niche as a character - being the perennial nice guy, that most good of all good guys. But I think that's a different case than Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan lost his GL mantle for about a decade, and even in those lost years - be it as Parallax or The Spectre - he was a constant presence in comics. Barry Allen was dead - definitively dead - for over 20 years. To a whole generation of fans, he was "The Flash who died", more a figure in Wally West's origin story than a hero in his own right. So to these people, me included, bringing Barry back as The Flash was like bringing Uncle Ben back to life, and having him take over as Spider-Man. But I've enjoyed his portrayal since his return, and his friendship with Hal. So no complaints from me yet.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

Have you read anything from Geoff John's run? It seems like you're pulling arcs from years past. I mean, nothing against what you said, but sometimes when I hear things like this, and if I'm guessing right, it's all from hardcore purists. But I'm also sure when Frank Miller (or O' Neil) changed Batman back to his darker detective roots, I'm sure people complained back then too.

I read Rebirth and hated it--thought the retcon with Parallax was very cheap. I'm currently reading all the Blackest Night stuff and now planning on getting the rest of the GL trades, and going to try very hard to read with a more open mind.

The problem with the "hardcore purists" who hate Hal Jordan is, there's just no way to make them happy. If Hal is portrayed in fearless, cocky, carefree Silver Age style, he's a bland, obnoxious Mary-Sue. If writers try and add more nuance to him, make him have more doubts or anger issues, then he's an emo whiner. They complain when he plays too much of a central, pivotal role in Green Lantern, or now Blackest Night, as if the main character being of crucial importance to a story is somehow an unconventional narrative ploy. Someone actually said "He's like the Norman Osborn of DC, being shoved down our throat everywhere", when at that point he was literally appearing in only 1 book a month. He gets singled out as "the boring guy", when he acts exactly like a whole other bunch of superheroes who somehow have way more fanboy cred.

I may be making a sweeping generalisation here, and if I am I apologise, but it would seem that the big, unforgivable flaw of Hal Jordan in the eyes of these people, the flaw that informs everything else and will always work against him no matter how he is written.... is that he's not Kyle Rayner.

I would KILL for a more nuanced take on the character. Now that I think about it, New Frontier was pretty close in doing that, adding the traumas of seeing his father die in a failed stunt and having to kill a child soldier during the Korean War.

As for him being the Norman Osborn of the DCU--probably closer to the case now, since Blackest Night is so prominant right now, but I'd say he's more the Wolverine or Spider-Man of the DCU: not as much as Norman, but man he does pop up a lot.

When people bring up Kyle as the Green Lantern, my problem is this: He came in to be the 'new modern' Green Lantern. He's not a bad character but he came in a bad situation where's the only Green Lantern out there and the Corps was gone. Because of that, it takes away a lot from the mythos when he was the MAIN Green Lantern.

Maybe if they brought the Corps back, along with Sinestro, and kept Kyle, it COULD work but I can't shake the feeling that Kyle was a little lightweight. To me, he never achieved the success of Wally West.

I think part of it is that there was a lot of stuff of Hal being the "greatest" Green Lantern when Kyle not only kept a semi-life together and fought with the Justice League on Earth, but was able to be the sole Green Lantern of the universe.

The thing that I loved about the character is that during that time (Blue Beetle might fit this more today) he was the Peter Parker of the DCU--the everyman with a good heart that rose to the challenge and became a hero.

As for what they could do--isn't that what they're doing now? I know he appeared with the rest of the Earth lanterns in Blackest Night.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I read Rebirth and hated it--thought the retcon with Parallax was very cheap. I'm currently reading all the Blackest Night stuff and now planning on getting the rest of the GL trades, and going to try very hard to read with a more open mind.

I would KILL for a more nuanced take on the character. Now that I think about it, New Frontier was pretty close in doing that, adding the traumas of seeing his father die in a failed stunt and having to kill a child soldier during the Korean War.

See, I think this is where you not reading comes in.

We're buds JRK (nice to see you back on the Hype, BTW - planning an RPG comeback?), so I know from our conversations that you refused to read any of GL Volume 4 out of principle, being so angry over the nature of Hal's resurrection. But in Volume 4, much character exploration is done revolving around his relationship with his father, and the impact his death had on Hal and his family.

 

[Octoberist]

Regardless what people may think of JOhns, he's the dude who brought Green Lantern into the spotlight, almost to an A list level, with his current run. Samething with The Flash and Superman.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

See, I think this is where you not reading comes in.

We're buds JRK (nice to see you back on the Hype, BTW - planning an RPG comeback?), so I know from our conversations that you refused to read any of GL Volume 4 out of principle, being so angry over the nature of Hal's resurrection. But in Volume 4, much character exploration is done revolving around his relationship with his father, and the impact his death had on Hal and his family.

And like I said--it's on the pile to read. I really am going to try to read it with an open mind.

Thanks for the welcome back, by the way. t:

 

[Wesley Dodds]

I dont want any radical character changes like they did with Boodika in FF.

It worked in FF but if they did it for the proper flick, it'd piss me off...

 

[Octoberist]

I was confused about that.

After First Flight, I did some research on Boodika and she wasn't like that. It reminded me of how they had that 'twist villain' in the first Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise. I was like "Huh? really..that's THE MAIN BAD GUY?"