Hollywood has the habit of not leaving things alone, for instance, let’s look at its attempt to bring to the big screen, the superhero Green Lantern. It was a project that the actor of the movie Ryan Reynolds himself sees as a failure.
However, the studio is set to supply the DC character another chance and have recently revealed the shortlist of actors they want portraying the said character on the big screen again.
If the current post by The Wrap is to be believed, then on the list of top actors to play the part of Hal Jordan in Green Lantern Corps, is the Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise. Also, making a list are Bradley Cooper, Armie Hammer, Joel McHale and Jake Gyllenhaal.
It appears, however, that the studio is hopeful, that they might be able to convince Ryan Reynolds into playing the role of Green Lantern for the second time, considering the scenario of Deadpool. After his initial appearance as Deadpool in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was a complete letdown. He made his character a commercial success and critically appreciated when given a chance to bring it back to life in his R-rated movie.
Originally primed for the role of Hal Jordan, in the 2011 movie was Bradley Cooper before it came to Ryan Reynolds. At present, he lends his voice to Rocket Racoon of Marvel’s franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy.
Tom Cruise will next be seen starring in the remake of The Mummy, an attempt at the commencement of a successful Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe consisting of Wolf Man, Van Helsing and Bride of Frankenstein.
There is no news regarding when Green Lantern Corps is going to be released, although it is expected to be seen in theaters in 2020. The film will start shooting around that time, so don’t go expecting casting news anytime soon. The film will tell the story of a group of individuals who join the supposed interstellar police force that defends the universe.
Now, from the list of likely candidates to present the character of Green Lantern on the big screen are Tom Cruise aged 54, Ryan Reynolds aged 40, Jake Gyllenhaal, whose age is 36, Armie Hammer with age 30, Bradley Cooper who is 42 and Joel McHale aged 45.
A couple of things that might have drawn your attention; to begin with, the age of the actors on the shortlist. This restart has been described as the Lethal Weapon in Space and will revolve mainly around Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
This is because the movie Lethal Weapon famously featured a brash, young and suicidal cop; Mel Gibson with a veteran detective; Danny Glover, who was feeling his age. Mel Gibson was around thirty at the time, while his partner was roughly forty.
If Hal Jordan is presumably playing the Martin Riggs (Gibson) part of this calculation, then Gyllenhaal and Hammer make the most sense. If Green Lantern Corps is going to alter the script and bring a young John Stewart in under the veteran Jordan, then Cruise makes an odd kind of sense in a teacher’s role.
The second thing on this list, which ought to grab your attention is Reynolds’ name. He infamously portrayed Hal Jordan in the 2011 endeavor, Green Lantern, which was then and remains criticized by critics and fan circles. Clearly, Reynolds has done fairly well for himself after disastrous efforts to play superheroes in the past, with Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, thanks to the success of Deadpool.
One can’t see why Reynolds would return to use the power ring unless it’s some contractual commitment or promise of an unparalleled financial agreement. In fact, Reynolds would have jumped ship for Deadpool before signing on for Green Lantern if Fox had decided to greenlight the “Mercenary with the Mouth” movie back in 2010.