We reported way back in July that Ryan Reynolds had beat out Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake (seriously) for the role of Hal Jordan in Martin Campbell’s big screen adaptation of Green Lantern. While I am a big fan of Ryan Reynolds and think he is a very talented actor with has a promising career ahead of him, I was not a supporter of his casting for two reasons: 1) Reynold’s previous credits and acting style thus far does not at all fit the personality of Hal Jordan and 2) He’s already headlining another superhero franchise as Deadpool in Marvel’s spin-off of Reynold’s character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

This film had (and still does have) so much potential. It’s being directed by an great filmmaker in Martin Campbell, who has provided us with some fantastic action films over the years; i.e. Golden Eye, Casino Royale and the upcoming Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson. Even though I’m still not thrilled about Reynolds and think other actors would have fit the character much better (Chris Pine, Nathan Fillion), I have decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust that he will put out a great performance as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern. The film has a massive budget, rumored in excess of $150 million, and is said to be headed for a much lighter, more fun tone than say, The Dark Knight; Campbell used Iron Man as a comparison example for his vision. Add a top-notch crew and effects team, and this movie should be epic. Unfortunately (at least for me), we have the news from The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog of Campbell’s most recent casting, that being Blake Lively as Hal Jordan’s love interest Carol Ferris.

I do not dislike Blake Lively, so don’t get me wrong, but I am not happy about her casting in this film. I don’t watch Gossip Girl, but feel that that show, along with the her role in the  Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants franchise, are not enough credentials to cast her as the female lead for the first big-screen adaptation of Green Lantern, as the CEO of an aerospace engineering company, which Carol Ferris is.

Latino Review revealed a couple weeks ago the slate of actresses who were under consideration for the role along with Lively including: Eva Green, Keri Russell, Diane Kruger and Jennifer Garner. I personally think Diane Kruger, fresh off her fantastic performance in Inglourious Basterds would have been the perfect actress to intellectually square off against Ryan Reynolds. She played a historical expert in the National Treasure movies, spoke German in Basterds, is quite beautiful and is only 33 years-old (*sneeze*Reynolds is also 33).

However, as I did with Reynolds, I will give Ms. Lively the benefit of the doubt and trust Mr. Campell and his apparent vision for the characters in this film. And as I say every time I disagree with the casting of an actor in a movie, most people were shocked and dismayed when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker, and look how that turned out. Green Lantern is of course, currently in production with a release date set for June 2011.

What Do You Think? Discuss.