It’s been quite some time since 2011’s Green Lantern ran the property into the ground and shut down any aspirations the IP had of being a cash cow for DC Comics and Warner Bros. Not only did the film kill all ambitions of a successful Green Lantern franchise, but it also managed to shut down Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which was already having trouble with its toy sales.
While Ryan Reynolds is not exactly a fan of the film, there is one observation that the actor made that betrays a more thorough understanding of the mythology of the character. Given that James Gunn is focusing on the Lanterns, giving them a live-action property of their own for the first time in a while, Reynolds’ assessment of the property could come in handy for the director, especially with his background in the MCU.
Ryan Reynolds called Green Lantern the Star Wars of the DC Universe
In an interview with /Film, Ryan Reynolds talked about how much he was exposed to the Green Lantern property before he became interested in the film. Reynolds was very intrigued by the scope of it all and talked about what he thought of the IP when he got into it for the film. He said:
I knew of the Green Lantern, but I wasn’t versed in it. You know, like, Geoff Johns, or anyone like that. I knew that he was an ordinary guy who was bequeathed a ring by a dying alien. It shot lasers out of it or something like that. Beyond that, I wasn’t that familiar with it.
I think I was most startled to find out how vast the universe is. I know Geoff Johns likened it to the Star Wars of the DC Universe and it really does feel like that. The scope is the thing that blew my mind. I couldn’t believe it when I made that discovery.
Green Lantern, first and foremost, functions as a fusion of the space opera genre and the superhero setting, something that it has in common with Guardians of the Galaxy. James Gunn has quite the background when it comes to the Marvel IP and could translate that understanding to his Green Lantern stories for the DCU.
Lanterns‘ focus on Earth could make the cosmic side of DCU feel just as grand
While Green Lantern as a property would thrive in a format more suited for a space opera story, the first outing the IP is going to have in James Gunn‘s DCU is going to be with Lanterns, a series that mostly focuses on Earth. The show is set to feature Hal Jordan and John Stewart, along with a few other Lanterns.
The show is set to be a detective story, with a mystery that will tie Earth to the wider DCU. It should be noted that Guy Gardner will be making an appearance in the DCU before the Lantern series, with Gunn’s own Superman. While the property will work well as a space opera, starting out on Earth might actually allow the IP to have a solid base to jump off of.
Establishing a home base for principal characters like John Stewart and Hal Jordan not only projects confidence in IP (in that the company is not in a rush to reveal all its cards just yet in a bid to keep audiences excited for the story) but also allows for larger and intricate narratives to unfold at their own pace. James Gunn will have a better time exploring the weird, cosmic aspect of the Lanterns if they are juxtaposed with the mundanity and small-scale threats that one might come across on Earth.
