By Hopefully y’all aren’t still sore about the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern film from 2011 – Warner Bros. is sure as heck moving forward with another movie starring the intergalactic space cops as part of its shared DC movie universe, and we’re starting to get some hints and rumors as to what that movie might look like. Most recently, Fast & Furious and Transformers star Tyrese Gibson has hinted that he might be involved.
Gibson has been open about his desire to be involved in the new film, in which he would play John Stewart, a Green Lantern of Earth perhaps best known among the masses, unfortunately, as being “the black one.” A few days ago, the musician-turned-actor posted this on Instagram:
That image – almost surely fanart and not official Warner Bros. promotional material – does certainly seem to suggest that some other rumors surrounding the reboot might be true. One is that Green Lantern will star more than one character – apparently Stewart and the classic Hal Jordan, who Reynolds portrayed in the original. Also, Jordan seems to be depicted here by Chris Pine, who has long been rumored for the role (what, if anything, that might mean for Pine’s supposed involvement in Wonder Woman remains to be seen).
Talking to ET, Gibson suggested that there have been official talks about his involvement. “I had a meeting at Warner Bros. and certain things were said and talked about,” he said, also teasing a possible Comic-Con announcement: “I might be there on the other side of an announcement.”
This seems about as close as an official announcement as one can get without an official announcement, unless Gibson is making a big play to get a role he doesn’t have locked down yet. Warner Bros. has Green Lantern scheduled for 2020, although one or both of the characters rumored to be starring may appear in DC film before that (perhaps one of the Justice League movies planned for 2017 and 2019).
If these rumors are true, this strikes us as a good thing – if nothing else, the involvement of John Stewart in the mix (played by Gibson or otherwise) is a no-brainer. That character played a major role in the Cartoon Network Justice League series and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited, meaning an entire generation of superhero-lovin’ kids grew up with him as “the” Green Lantern. It would be nice to see that character anchor a movie on his own, but the potential involvement of Hal Jordan would certainly evoke the idea of Green Lantern as a police force and not just an individual hero, especially considering there have been several Earth-based GLs running around for decades. If he is playing Jordan, Pine can definitely pull off the good-and-he-knows-it arrogant swagger needed to really sell the character (a trait buried under about six levels of snark in Reynolds’ portrayal). We’re still skeptical after the original movie, but maybe the second time is the charm for Green Lantern.