Well, after years of lagging behind Marvel in the comic book movie stakes, nobody can say that DC Comics and their parent company, Warner Bros. aren’t making up for lost time. For, over the weekend, it was announced that they’re not only going ahead with George Miller’s Justice League Of America movie, but also standalone movies for The Flash and Green Lantern.
You can read about the Flash movie here, but let’s focus for now on Green Lantern, in which ordinary test pilot Hal Jordan is charged with defending the universe (or at least a portion thereof) after he becomes the custodian of a hugely powerful ring, which allows him to fly, project solid green shapes of any size and even invisibility, among other, almost infinite abilities. Often referred to as the ‘most powerful weapon in the universe’, it also comes with a natty green costume and the sobriquet, Green Lantern, and can put its wearer on the same power level as even Superman.
After years of rumours that Warner Bros. were going to tap Jack Black to star in a Green Lantern comedy, it seems that they’re going for a more serious treatment – and they’ve asked Greg Berlanti to direct.
Greg who? We hear you cry – and to be fair, you’re probably right. Berlanti himself may ask the same question. Well, he directed the 2000 romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Club (which, ironically, starred small-screen Superman, Dean Cain), but since then has spent his time in TV, writing and exec-producing the likes of Dawson’s Creek, Everwood, and Brothers & Sisters. Hardly a CV which inspires confidence that he can handle a superhero blockbuster, but if Warners are prepared to go with an unknown director for this, then we’re guessing that his pitch was nigh-on perfect.
Berlanti will write the script with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, who both have experience of writing comic books (mostly for Marvel) and, in Green’s case, co-executive producing Heroes. So there is some form there. Donald De Line will produce the movie for Warners.
What’s not confirmed at this moment is how this Green Lantern will be affected by the Justice League movie, which is reportedly using the John Stewart iteration of the character (he took over the ring in the 1970s). Does this mean that this isn’t a direct spin-off? Are we going to have two Green Lanterns running around on the big screen, in addition to two Batmen (Christian Bale and whoever they choose for Justice League) and Supermen (Brandon Routh and ditto)? Or will Stewart hand over to Jordan during the JLA movie? After all, the Green Lantern mythology allows for more than multiple rings and multiple wearers.
Questions, questions, questions… which we’re unlikely to have answered for a while, if ever. Because so far Warners’ track record of getting their non-Big Two properties to the big screen is patchy, to say the least, with Wonder Woman falling apart recently and The Flash now on its umpteenth director. Will Green Lantern buck this trend? As always, we’ll keep you posted.