We Finally Have Our Green Lantern, It’s Ryan Reynolds (Disappointing Sigh)

The Movie Mash has been discussing the ongoing Green Lantern actor search for a while now. After the Earth-shattering success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. decided to make a long-term commitment in developing the hundreds of superhero characters at their disposal into potentially successful movie franchises. The next hopeful money-maker for WB is the first mega-adaptation of the hugely popular Green Lantern comic series, which has been around for over half a century. Warner picked Bond director Martin Campbell (Golden Eye, Casino Royale) to bring GL to life in his first big Sci-Fi action spectacle.

Over the past five months or so, WB and Campbell have been reportedly scouring Hollywood looking for the perfect actor to be their Hal Jordan. Just a couple days ago, it was reported that the director and the studio had narrowed their search down to three finalists: Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake. You heard correct. WB was seriously considering the former N’Syncer to be the lead in a $150-$200 million action blockbuster. Now I don’t mean to knock him, cuz I LOVE JT, but that seems like a complete joke to consider him to be the ONE actor handle this load. Bradley Cooper would be okay. He’s gained enough mainstream appeal (The Hangover) to be recognizable enough to to bring in the average movie-goer, although I personally think he comes off as a douche-bag. Then finally we have Ryan Reynolds. This guy is a great actor, is super ripped and has already been in several action blockbusters. Obvious choice right? Apparently. WB announced yesterday that they have indeed chose Reynolds to don the power ring.

This might seem like an obvious choice too many people reading this right now, and that’s the problem. It’s an extremely safe and uninspired choice by Warner Bros. Let me be clear, Reynolds is a fantastic actor. He’s funny, sarcastic and charming, but that’s NOT the character of Hal Jordan. Reyonlds has displayed a one-track acting persona through his portfolio thus far as a wise-cracking, sarcastic cut-up. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but Hal Jordan’s personality is much more subdued and serious. He no doubt does exude humorous and charismatic qualities, but not to the degree of Reynolds.  I’m afraid that Ryan Reynolds is going to be Ryan Reynolds and not Hal Jordan. Reynolds’ acting approach, personality and style seem perfectly fitted for that of another DC comics character that will inevitably hit the big screen, Wally West a.k.a. The Flash. But that is obviously out of the question now.

As I use the words “safe and uninspired” previously, I’m referring to Warner Bros.’ apparent lack of balls to take risks in this casting choice. Ryan Reynolds has been around for  years now. He has a large fan-base and is appealing to both men and women. But out of all of the thousands of actors out there right now, he is THE #1 choice to be Hal Jordan in Green Lantern’s first big movie? Picking a popular actor just for the sake of his popularity should not be the mindset. Was Christian Bale a huge star when he was cast as Batman? No. Was Chris Pine a huge star when he was cast as Captain Kirk? No. But Christopher Nolan and J.J. Abrams saw something in those actors that made them believe they could carry their respective franchises to success, despite their lack of mentions in gossip magazines. I feel that WB is going with the “safe” choice, because of the poor performances of their two action films this year, Terminator Salvation and Watchmen, which they invested heavily in. If those to films were box-office successes, then the studio might have been more inclined to cast an unknown who might “fit better” for the role of Hal Jordan (i.e. Nathan Fillion or Henry Cavill, who were also on the preliminary shortlist of candidates). But WB cannot risk having their next superhero epic be consecutive DC failure (especially after the success of The Dark Knight), so they go with “the safe choice,” which is their right and it’s smart, I just think it’s unfortunate.

Another problem I have with Reynolds being cast as GL is that he will simultaneously be the face of two superhero franchises: Green Lantern (DC & Warner Bros) and Deadpool (Marvel & Fox). Despite horrific reviews and terrible quality, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was still a box-office success. And as Reynolds’ portrayal of Deadpool, the anti-hero mercenary, was one of the only bright spots in the film (because Wade Wilson is a wise-cracking smart-ass), Fox has already green-lit a spin-off franchise for the Deadpool character. As a DC fan and as one who considers the perspective of the average movie-goer, I really DO NOT like this.

After all these years of waiting for a Green Lantern movie, the actor that has been chosen to be Hal Jordan, just appeared as a character from X-Men. Many people might not see this as a big deal, (Hugo Weaving was in LOTR & The Matrix Trilogy; Ian McKellen was in LOTR & X-Men; Christian Bale is Batman and John Connor) it’s different when it’s Marvel and DC. Marvel and DC is like Israel vs. Palestine. Vikings vs. Packers. Republicans vs. Democrats. No, I’m JK. I actually enjoy all Marvel characters and comics, but my main mash is DC. And I want the actor who is going to play Green Lantern, to only have that on his superhero plate. If Reynolds was in the upcoming Hobbit franchise, (of course not, but just as an analogy) I would be fine with that, because although it is another blockbuster franchise, LOTR has no association with DC or the superhero genre. I already feel as though GL is tainted by the presence of Deadpool. I want Green Lantern to be an actor’s sole superhero project. Also, I’m a movie freak and I know better, but for the uninitiated movie-goer, it could very well be confusing as they see Reynolds as both GL and Deadpool. They might not know the differences between DC and Marvel and could prove to be an unecessary problem.

Now I’m not steaming with anger over this. I’m still excited for the film because GL is awesome and so is Martin Campbell. I do very much like Ryan Reynolds as a person and an actor, I’m just worried about his approach to playing Hal Jordan for the reasons I’ve provided. BUT, I will absolutely give him a chance, I just pray that I am dead wrong.

What Do You Think? Discuss.