Enough about Marvel, Spider-Man 4, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers… What’s happening at DC? Well, Green Lantern is happening, by the looks of things.
Seriously on the back foot when it comes to superhero movies (apart from Batman, and not counting more esoteric comics properties like Watchmen and V For Vendetta), there’s been little sign so far of the DC / Warner grand plan that group president Jeff Robinov outlined to the Wall Street Journal last summer. But the first signs of a DC resurgence may be emerging in glowing, green, romper-suited form, put together by writers Marc Guggenheim, Michael Green and Greg Berlanti, and directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale).
[According to an interview with Guggenheim at SciFi Wire](http://Enough about Marvel, Spider-Man 4, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers… What’s happening at DC? Well, Green Lantern is happening, by the looks of things.), the movie is set to go in front of the cameras in Australia later this year, for a summer 2011 release. The writer, who delivered a new draft of the script last week, denied rumours that Chris Pine or Bradley Cooper might be cast (“They’re all false insofar as we haven’t chosen anyone yet…”) and didn’t let much slip, other than that the film focuses on the Hal Jordan incarnation of the character.
Green Lantern’s history is one of the more tortuous in DC’s canon. The name applies to anyone wielding one of the power rings created by The Guardians of the Universe, which bestow superpowers on the wearer provided he or she has enough willpower to control it. There are over 7000 Green Lanterns in the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps, but the principle Lanterns featured in DC Comics are Alan Scott (1940-1951); Hal Jordan (1959-1994, and again post-2004); and Kyle Rayner (1994-2004).
Fans are entertainingly vocal about which Lantern was best (there’s no better example of the debate than this open letter printed in The Onion a few years ago) but Guggenheim’s decision to simplify things and stick solely to Jordan would seem to be wise. Unless of course you prefer Rayner. Or Scott. Or Guy Gardner. Or John Stewart.
No, not the John Stewart from The Daily Show.