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Ryan Reynolds Speaks About Green Lantern's Origin Story

by Ethan Anderton
November 30, 2009
Source: MTV

Just last week we heard from Ryan Reynolds (via MTV) and all the excitement he has about working with Martin Campbell on the DC Comics' adaptation of Green Lantern. But with no trailer, no pictures, nor even a simple teaser poster, we're all dying to hear something good about this potential new franchise that will be introducing the world to a superhero who has never made his way to the big screen before. Well now MTV has even more talk from the funnyman-turned-action-hero, with Reynolds giving some insights into the approach to Green Lantern as an origin story, and as a character who's more than just a masked hero.

When planning the first in a hopeful series of films in a new comic book franchise, it's hard to get past the formulaic approach to a hero's origin story in order to properly introduce them to audiences both familiar and unaware. Here are Reynold's comments on how they're dealing with it differently in Green Lantern:

It is [an origin story] to a certain degree, but it's not a labored origin story, where the movie [truly] begins in the third act. The movie starts when it starts. We find out Hal [Jordan] is the guy fairly early on, and the adventure begins."

Not really any new details here, but it's good to hear that they're trying to make the film different from other comic book movies which is something that DC Entertainment is going to have to nail if they want to have a hot property other than Batman. Another plus is that DC and Warner Bros seem to be taking a page from the Marvel Entertainment book, more specifically the Iron Man chapters, to really craft a layered story in this.

"I think you walk away from this first film, and the moments that you remember and the moments that mean so much to you, not unlike 'Iron Man,' are the moments where the guy's not in the suit. That to me is the tough thing to get right. And that's something that they did get right [in 'Iron Man']. You see why this guy's in the suit, and that's what's interesting to me. Not that he is in the suit, but why."

Reynolds is right on the money for the most part, but the other interesting aspect of Tony Stark (which DC has already gotten mostly right with Christopher Nolan's take on Batman) is that Stark isn't like all the other heroes in that he's spectacularly flawed and has to fight his own demons. I'm not entirely certain how dark or hard of a struggle Hal Jordan has to face if any, but Reynolds is right in that Green Lantern can't just be another masked superhero, but rather, he has to have a character with some depth behind the mask as well.

All this talk sounds great, and I hope that Reynolds isn't just blowing smoke up all our asses. Green Lantern can be a really great franchise and a huge step for DC in the right direction. So what do you guys think?

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Related categories: Hype, Movie News, Opinions

Brustbaer

I think that Ryan Reynolds should do just fine as the GL. It's definitely one of the "must see" movies for me.
Sick Nick

I still think that Reynolds is going to be a very different Green Lantern than what those who are familiar with Hal Jordan are going to expect. He makes a great Deadpool (and would have been an awesome Flash) because he's more of a comedy guy than an action one. Hal Jordan has fun, but he's far from goofy or quirky, which seem to be Reynolds' specialties. So, in the end, I still think it can be an awesome movie, but only if he doesn't try too hard to uphold the traditional character of Hal Jordan.
xerxex

Sick Nick Reynolds has been typecasted, and he's trying to get out of being the "funny guy."
tazz

@ #2 Sick Nick you forget that Ryan Reynolds starred in serious roles i.e. Smokin' Aces and The Amityville Horror
SlashBeast

I think that with a universe as expansive as Green Lantern's, you need to have an origin story to some degree. But I'm glad that he understands the character and is committed. Super excited for this one!
branden

He is more comedy, but like others pointed out, he was in Smokin Aces, Deadpool, and he was in Blade Trinity. I definitely disagree that he is worried about being typecasted. He does college comedies (Van Wilder, Waiting), romcoms (Proposal, Just Friends), action (Blade, Wolverine, Smokin Aces), dramedy (Adventureland, Definitely Maybe). He's no Johnny Depp, but typecasted? Yeah right.
Hedgehog

Ryan Reynolds will make an amazing GL imo. Hal Jordan was very rebelious at times in the comics which RR has a lot of the same quirks.
blue orange ny

Great stuff, I'm a big DC fan and I can't wait for GL. As everyone has pointed out we would have wanted him to play Flash because we tend picture him as a funny man. Everyone like myself when we hear Ryan Reynolds all we do is picture stuff like Waiting and Van Wilder. Hey if he's serious and committed then he truly deserves the shot. There's no doubt he's heard what the fans are saying about how we picture him more for the role of Flash. I'm glad to hear that he's committed.
jake the snake

RR will rock the house like jake the snake roberts did in his hay day!
Aimee

Ryan Reynolds will be perfect. He can act any role, if you blame Ryan for being too goofy, then you have not seen half his shows.
xerxex

He was Typecasted there Branden, but not for long. The guy got himself out of it and has become one of today's leading actors.
Hugh

Love Ryan Reynolds. Funny and smart. But I read a recent draft of this script, and it was .... horrible. Just unreadable and worse, uninteresting. The origin story was really dull. Sad to say.
SlashBeast

Funny, because I read a recent draft of the script and thought it was awesome.
Tra la la la la di da

Hal flawed? Ya think.
James

According to a casting website, http://bathersoncasting.com/castingcalls.htm, the green lantern will start filming in Louisiana sometime in 2010.
Fisherr

I believe that Ryan will do a great job.
tony

green lantern was black right? why not the rapper commom
paul

I have been a long time GL fan off and on since the early 70's and Reynolds would not have been my first choice. With that in mind, I will give him a chance since he has the spot and hope he nails the role. I agree he would have made a better Flash or even one of the smart mouthed villains, on the other hand his role as Deadpool gives me some hope, but we will have to see. The Hal Gordon of old, before having gone mad and then returned redeemed, had a sense of humor but it was not a full-blown humor or a dry humor but a well-placed remark here or there and he was good at well-placed taunts while trying to find his adversaries weaknesses or catch them off guard. With that said, my first choices would have been David Boreanaz, who actually voiced over GL in JL: The New Frontier and had a passion for the role, his build and acting style would have worked for the live action role. My other choices would have been Sam Worthington, Karl Urban, and Chris Pines. I am just uneasy with Reynolds as I think some die hard GL fans might be, so he will have to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park to make this one a success.