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Martin Campbell Likens Green Lantern to Iron Man in Tone

by Ethan Anderton
January 19, 2010
Source: Collider

With all the major casting on Martin Campbell's adaptation of DC Comics' Green Lantern finally out of the way, now we can focus on exactly how Campbell will be executing the Green Lantern. No, not how to kill him, but rather, the kind of tone that Campbell is going for. Luckily Collider got some time with Campbell and he comes right out with it: "It will be much more in the tone of Iron Man. It's got to be. Certainly not Batman Begins, which is a pretty dark movie." That's probably for the better since there's already too much dark on the DC Comics side thanks to Batman anyway, but that doesn't mean Hal Jordan won't have depth.

While he probably won't be a copy of Tony Stark, it sounds like Campbell wants a bit more of a hotshot hero.

"He's the Hal Jordan character who's the sort of shoot from the hip, irresponsible kind of cocky test pilot if you will. In fact, the character seems to be the least likely to be chosen as Green Lantern. Well, of course that's the fun of it. So no, it'll be much more like Iron Man. So it'll have one foot in reality if you see what I mean."

So even though Hal Jordan will still have that brash attitude about him, Campbell knows that this character has layers and won't turn him into a walking punchline like Brett Ratner did with Wolverine in X-Men: The Last Stand. Campbell spoke further about the basics of Jordan as a character:

"When I first took on the job, I did it because I'd never done a superhero movie before and secondly he's just… He's a psychological character. His powers are psychological. They're to do with will and the enemy is fear and so on and so forth, as opposed to Superman who sort of runs into a phone box, gets the old spandex on and off he goes. So he's a much more complex character…"

Campbell's words combined with what Ryan Reynolds had to say about his excitement and the origin story of Green Lantern pretty much solidifies that it is going to be one hell of a force to be reckoned and might be a good start in giving Marvel Entertainment a run for their money with something other than Batman. For the full interview with Campbell, head on over to Collider. In the meantime, I just can't wait to see the first frame of Green Lantern. Hopefully we'll get to see that soon, but considering they won't start shooting until March down in Louisiana, it'll probably be a while before we get to see that. Still excited for this movie?

Find more posts: Hype, Movie News, Opinions

23 Comments

From the lame executing joke, to the Wolverine as turned into a walking punchline by Bret Ratner...i started wondering who wrote this article? Of course, to my surprise, Ethan. Dude you seriously need to drop some of that stuff in the editing room, Wolverine as a walking punchline doesn't even make sense. Do you even know the traditional definition of a punchline?

Darunia on Jan 19, 2010

By the way, i hate X Men The last Stand, and what they did to the characters.

Darunia on Jan 19, 2010

Green Lantern's not really a "dark" character so a lighter tone makes sense. Hopefully not a weightless tone though.

SlashBeast on Jan 19, 2010

Cant be more excited for this movie. I just hope its way better than the Secret Origin story.

Dreckent on Jan 19, 2010

@ Darunia, A punchline is the component of a joke or a simple exchange that is meant to inspire laughter from those who are privy to hear it. Since I too hated X-Men: The Last Stand and what they did to the characters, my observation is quite clear and makes perfect sense. This is because Wolverine was used as a proxy for awful jokes throughout the entire film. Almost everything he said was a terrible one liner. Wolverine is supposed to be sarcastic, yes, but that's all he was throughout the entire film, hence, I find him to be a walking punchline. Is there a definition of punchline that isn't "traditional?" Please educate me. The fact is, I write news to appease our readers, and I write my opinions to spark, hopefully, quality discussion. Since your comment on my opinion isn't news related, or quality discussion, I recommend you leave that in the "editing room." Regards,

Ethan Anderton on Jan 19, 2010

We can only hope this is the case.

Jim on Jan 19, 2010

Wolverine wasn't a comedic character, so your use of punchline is out of place. I appreciate your intent or sparking discussion, just be more thoughtful of it. Regarding discussing the news at hand, all this means is Martin Campbell understands the character, not that it's anything new coming from Martin Campbell considering his track record. He has shown great balance between humor/dry wit/goofiness with 3 movies already. With Zorro at one end of the spectre, and Casino Royale at the other end of it. The much more interesting part of the interview is about how he plans to tackle the design of the world, something MArtin hasn't ever quite done in his career, which is a full blown fantasy sci fi movie. For that he is working with Grant Major. And an internet blogger who is above criticism doesn't belong on an internet blog. Write for yourself.

Darunia on Jan 19, 2010

@ Darunia, I do write for myself, that's why I don't care about your unfounded criticism. At this point I don't even know what you're complaining about. In X-Men: The Last Stand, I'm saying Wolverine WAS TREATED like a comedic character and came off as such because of all the terrible jokes, and Martin Campbell "won't turn [Green Lantern] into a walking punchline like Brett Ratner did with Wolverine..." It's an opinion and isn't correct or incorrect. And if you don't find the article newsworthy then don't read it. Others aren't as familiar with Campbell's great track record so telling them what he has to say about understanding the character is good news for some. You're one person, but there's a whole community out there. And the reason we didn't publish EVERYTHING in the interview, including the portion that YOU found most interesting, is because that interview is a Collider exclusive, and we just wanted to point out some highlights and point you towards Collider for the rest, which obviously you have done. This is where your comments about what you found interesting in the interview would've made great discussion by themselves without the unnecessary nitpicking snark you provided. So well done. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Ethan Anderton on Jan 19, 2010

Anderton don't stoop to Darunia's level, its a lowly one!

Xerxex on Jan 19, 2010

Ethan, your writing made perfect sense, including the comments about Wolverine. /ignore Darunia. As someone not terribly familiar with Green Lantern, I am now more interested in this than I was 10 minutes ago.

Pete on Jan 19, 2010

A blogger doth not a Pulitzer bring. It's not wise to criticize blogwriting, and even less so to defend it.

yuck on Jan 19, 2010

Ever since they casted Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, I started to lose hope for this move, maybe I'll regain it when a trailer comes out

Victor on Jan 19, 2010

I'm still wondering how a superhero named Green Lantern can ever be taken seriously...? Hopefully the movie can prove me wrong.

bdl on Jan 19, 2010

@Darunia, If his writing is such a problem go read someone else's blog and stop being such a cynic. Give me a break.

az on Jan 19, 2010

I have no problem admitting i over reacted. Sorry for being a jackass Ethan.

Darunia on Jan 19, 2010

I don't like the way Campbell talks about other superheromovies. He talks about them like The Green Lantern will scrutinize all the other movies in the genre. Don't like that.

Robbie on Jan 19, 2010

LoL. I love that he likens the tone to "Iron Man," the extremely critically and financially successful franchise. I want to see a director come out and say, "It's a lot like Elektra, really."

CS on Jan 19, 2010

@16 I love that idea, because the more the other movies are scrutinized the better they will likely become. 2008 set the bar for superhero movies. The Dark Knight is the new high water mark for dark super hero movies and Iron Man is top (maybe tied with Spiderman 2) in lighter superhero movies. I hope that the Green Lantern can build on Iron Man's successes and improve the style. It sounds like Campbell wants to do that and it makes me excited.

Jordan on Jan 19, 2010

Thanks for the support everyone! And @ Darunia, thanks for the apology. It's not everyday you see one of those on the Internet! No hard feelings! Keep reading!

Ethan Anderton on Jan 19, 2010

i think more like ironman in tone is a good thing,his totally different to the likes of batman which is all dark & moody,their will be dark moments in the film but they will be balanced out quite nicely, so i'm all for it.if the green lantern can pull of the same shit that ironman did & make hal jordan more of a household name like tony stark,can only be a good thing for the fans & the sequels to follow.

tobi,leader of the akatsuki on Jan 20, 2010

@17 Kevin Smith said that "A Couple Of Dicks" will be like Lethal Weapon 1 with 60% less action lol

victor on Jan 20, 2010

#16 - Robbie Speaking as a huge Green Lantern fan, I totally agree. I can't stand how he talks like Green Lantern will be somehow a critique of superheros and deconstruct comic book mythology and all that junk. All I can say is that that is complete and utter bullshit.

SlashBeast on Jan 21, 2010

Didn't have time to read all the above, but: They say imitation is the sincerest form of television. Goes for movies, too.

zubzwank on Jan 21, 2010

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