When the Green Lantern was first introduced, Hal Jordan was chosen because he was the most deserving man in the area. Emerald Dawn changed that. This mini-series that was released before the first issue of the Green Lantern series came out in 1990. It is a retelling and slight reworking of Hal Jordan's (the Silver Age Green Lantern) origin. The Hal in this book is definitely different from the Hal in the 1970s and 1980s. Readers had grown accustomed to him as a leader, one of the Guardians' finest. Emerald Dawn showed him as a fallible human (he hurts a few of his friends while driving drunk) and he is a little impulsive with his actions when he first gets his ring. But, by the end of the story, he has saved Oa from the threat of Legion, proving that he is a hero and Green Lantern material.
Martin Campbell spoke with Devin Faraci from CHUD.com and said that what people will like best about Hal Jordan is that he is
"the hotshot military guy who is slightly f***ed up. He screws up a bit. He may be a hotshot as a pilot, but he also has chinks in his armor, which is what makes him interesting. In fact if anybody should not be chosen as Green Lantern, it would have been Hal Jordan. That's the journey that film takes, about somebody who on the surface of it is the least likely candidate to become one of the greatest Green Lanterns."
According to Mr. Faraci Campbell, specifically called Emerald Dawn "the origin," which veers from the indifferent and strait laced Lantern who first splashed across DC Comics.
DogsOfWar-This news certainly brings Ryan Reynolds persona closer to the Green Lantern's character. I just hope they don't make him too much of a wise ass.