Marc Guggenheim On The Flash And Green Lantern 2

Marc Guggenheim On The Flash And Green Lantern 2

Screenwriter Marc Guggemheim spoke to SciFi Now, offering updates on the highly anticipated Flash movie as well as the sequel to Green Lantern..

By MarkCassidy - Feb 03, 2011 02:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Action
Source: SciFiNow

In an interview with SciFinow.co.uk, Guggemheim speaks about the upcoming Flash movie. He doesn't reveal any specific plot points, but gives us a glimpse into the motivations and mindset we can expect to see from Barry Allen when the film finally arrives. He also speaks about Green Lantern 2 and how he and fellow screenwriters Michael Goldenberg Greg Berlanti will approach the sequel. Here are some excerpts..



SciFinow: It’s been established that Michael, Greg and you are also writing The Flash. What’s the appeal of the character of Barry Allen and The Flash for you?

MG: The Flash – to me – is about pure expression. Flash is untethered to the limitations of time and space – he can be everywhere at once and with that, I think, comes a certain freedom. Who hasn’t wanted to be faster? To get someplace quicker? And because Flash does so by means of running – instead of, say, flying or teleporting – there’s an athleticism to the wish fulfillment that other superheroes don’t have. When Greg, Michael and I are talking about the character, we speak a lot in athletic terms. There’s a component of this movie that’s a lot like a sports movie, at least in terms of the language and physicality and mental toughness in what the Flash goes through.

The general audience familiar with The Flash may look at him as the superhero who runs really fast and not see much beyond that. For those people, how would you define the complexities of this character?

Well, it’s all about who the character – in this case, Barry Allen – is before he gets his powers. We spent a lot of time talking about who Barry is and, specifically, why he’s the kind of guy we want to see get these powers bestowed on him. What’s missing in his life? What problems does he have? What personal foibles? And how are all those things impacted by the ability to run fast? I don’t want to spoil the answers that we came up with, but this was very much our approach: You make running fast interesting by creating a character who is challenged and fulfilled by getting the ability to run fast.

In our minds, The Flash is in the same position Iron Man was as far as mainstream audiences: a known quantity by name, but pretty much an empty canvas beyond that. Do you agree with that?

I don’t think any superhero is an “empty canvas,” per se, because even if the mainstream audience doesn’t know about him or her, the comic book community does and you always want to honor what they love about the character. In the case of the older, Silver Age characters, the trick is to dramatise their back stories in a way that feels modern and fresh. You always want to be informed by the source material and draw inspiration from it. For example, we always try to avoid creating a new character when it’s possible to draw from the cast established by the comic.


And on Green Lantern 2..

Superhero sequels have a tendency to overload themselves with villains. Do you think that will be a challenge of Green Lantern 2, keeping Hal Jordan front and centre while still making his opponent or opponents fully fleshed out?

I think that’s the challenge of every superhero movie. But, you know, I saw someone comment online that the first Green Lantern already follows the superhero sequel pattern of having two villains instead of one – and so did Batman Begins, by the way – so I feel that we’ve already faced this challenge and overcome it with the first movie. The trick is always giving the protagonist a compelling arc and never forgetting that it’s his movie, no matter how many villains you might have.

Looking at the first Green Lantern, in your opinion what do you think Martin Campbell and Ryan Reynolds bring to the project?

They’re both perfectly suited for the movie and material. Martin understands the language of blockbuster movies in general and superheroes (Zorro, James Bond) in particular. The movie requires a director with an epic vision and the wherewithal to create an epic scope and Martin’s had both from day one – I’ve never seen him not have a very firm grasp on who Green Lantern is as a character and concept and what the movie needs to be to see that brought to life. As for Ryan… I’ve seen footage cut together and he’s probably the best fit between cast and character since Christopher Reeve and Superman. He carries this movie on his shoulders. I think Ryan’s a star of a certain caliber, but after this movie, his career will be on another level entirely.


Interesting stuff. Its a shame Guggenheim didn't have any more info on the status of the actual (pre)production of The Flash. But he has been fairly free with discussing the script so hopefully we will have something else to bring you on the project soon.

For the full interview click the link back to SciFinow below.

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DaenerysTargaryen
DaenerysTargaryen - 2/3/2011, 3:00 PM
ya ya show us some more GL pics. That last one was BORING (with a capital B). Marvel is kicking your ass hype wise. I mean those last cap images rocked. What has DC given us so far? Some pics of merchandise and a pic of reynolds and hammond looking bored. Pick up the pace DC. Show us something soo epic that we'll be hyperventilating for hours
jazzman
jazzman - 2/3/2011, 3:10 PM
they talking to big right now Green Lantern better do good until they get a sequel
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 2/3/2011, 3:11 PM
So Green Lantern has 2 villians? Hector Hammond is definately the first, but who is the second? They can't mean Parallax, can they? Parallax in this movie is just the fear entity, right? He infects Hammond, making him evil.
So this is either confirmation of Krona being in it or Sinestro will turn evil by the end of it. I'm guessing that it's the latter. I've heard people who apparantly worked on the film that said Krona was definately in it. So it's probably Krona.
TheActionAce
TheActionAce - 2/3/2011, 3:12 PM
man we need a better trailer for green lantern

this movie should rock our socks:D

like blackwidow has already pointed out Marvel is kicking DC out of the game

and bring on the flash already
green lantern and flash are the only two book i read of DC and the ones connected to them
WorldsGreatestdetective
WorldsGreatestdetective - 2/3/2011, 3:18 PM
This movie will be great, I am optimistic over it
PaulRom
PaulRom - 2/3/2011, 3:18 PM
I hope they actually go forward with The Flash. I think Chris Pine would be good for the role...he definitely has that Flash-y appearance, in my eyes.
And I mostly agree with BlackWidow, Marvel is going a lot faster when it comes to making quality comic book movies. If Green Lantern flops, the futures of such movies as The Flash, WonderWoman, and Green Arrow will possibly vanish. All that DC has out right now is movies on Batman, Superman, Jonah Hex, Watchmen, and Catwoman (the last one doesn't count much, though). Marvel, on the other hand, has done Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Punisher, Iron Man, and nearly every big-name character.
jazzman
jazzman - 2/3/2011, 3:23 PM
@PaulRom

geez Marvel never produce some of the other movies u mention. Marvel Studio only done Iron Man 1 and 2, and The Incredible Hulk
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/3/2011, 3:25 PM
as much as i want to see awesome green lantern & flash movies.(they're the only two dc comics i actually read.)

if the green lantern fails at the box office,don't expect green lantern 2 or the flash.

also is the green lantern 2 just another excuse to hold up the deadpool movie.
CBK
CBK - 2/3/2011, 3:25 PM
This is reaaaaaaaally old news. SciFi Now posted this months ago.
CBK
CBK - 2/3/2011, 3:28 PM
@BlackWidow We've seen waaaaaaay more than that. Have you not checked the movies website? They've got plenty of pics up there, we've seen more from this film than we have Thor or Cap, so I don't know why you said that.
jazzman
jazzman - 2/3/2011, 3:29 PM
@marvel72

do we really need RR for deadpool he was getting to greedy to star in too many comic book movies.

@Intruder

so true LOL
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/3/2011, 3:39 PM
@ jazzman

your right,but the leaked script was written with ryan reynolds in mind & he keeps saying how committed he is too the character.

who else if not reynolds ?
JosePetrelli12
JosePetrelli12 - 2/3/2011, 3:44 PM
mehhh... C'Mon DC lets get it crackin now... Batman, Superman, GL, Flash, all we need is a Wonder Woman Film and we can get some things moving....
jazzman
jazzman - 2/3/2011, 3:46 PM
@marvel72

well he should know he f**ked up when he jumped from Marvel character to a DC character so soon. he knew they was developing a script for Deadpool for him but he still end up doing Green Lantern. plus WB going to try hard to keep him on their side.

@Intruder

i agree, if the second trailer does not end up been epic thats it for them. all we going to get is more Batman and Superman movies.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 2/3/2011, 3:46 PM
CBK, you sure? Well, either way the info is new to CBM! Not that there is too much info. I liked what he said about Barry Allen gaining his powers and stuff though.
Vital
Vital - 2/3/2011, 4:08 PM
Nice. I liked all the Flash updates. Am I the only person actually excited to see a Flash movie lol?
Xandera
Xandera - 2/3/2011, 4:10 PM
Cool Ror!


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Chapter 1: Sparks Ignite

Knightstalker
Knightstalker - 2/3/2011, 4:15 PM
Why is anybody even concerned about a GL sequel when all we've seen of the first movie is a production trailer?
TayDee
TayDee - 2/3/2011, 4:17 PM
I hope GL does good, but with a 150 million dollar budget I just don't see it doing as well as Iron Man did.
superotherside
superotherside - 2/3/2011, 4:30 PM
I hope GL will be a good movie... but doubt it will be half as awesome as thor and cap are going to be!
deanwilkins
deanwilkins - 2/3/2011, 4:49 PM
Green Lantern will surprise everyone. Mark my words. It could be one of the best films of the genre.
TheActionAce
TheActionAce - 2/3/2011, 4:50 PM
@Comedian03 i dont think sinestro's a villian in this one and i dont want him to be hopefully if this is a hit we get a 2 and 3 then in the entire tirology i want to see the downfall of sinestro and in the first two hints of him going rogue like revealing how he controls all of korugar with fear
SeaSerpentine
SeaSerpentine - 2/3/2011, 5:04 PM
I don't care what ANYONE says about Green Lantern, I'm still gonna see it.
TheDetectiveComicRises
TheDetectiveComicRises - 2/3/2011, 5:19 PM
TheBlackWidow DC is doing the right thing because it is not about competition they R rebuilding and have gotten off to a pretty good start. In one month WB/DC made three huge announcements 1( Selina Kyle/Ann Hathaway, Bane/Tom Hardy in TDKR 2)New Superman Henry Cavill & 3)in talks with Joseph Gorden-Levitt to be in TDKR.Those 3 annoucements alone rocked the foundation of the comic book world & films period. DC is up-ing the pace they are getting real good actor and doing sumthing they do in their animated films and that is getting good voice actors.
TheBlackWidow those 3 annoucements surpassed any avengers news out there and TDKR had been surpasses Avengers news. Hey I love Marvel too but lets keep it real some of their live action films have fell off. WB/DC dominates animated cartoon on DVD and on TV, on TV DC has Smallville, The Human Target, Young Justice and Later this year Green Lantern the Animated series coming out, Wonder Woman pilot on NBC & Raven in the works. Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds is going to be huge! Flash will also & a GL 2 many people want! DC is headed in the right direction, I wish both DC & Marvel the best but TheBlackWidow in the words of "Superboy" either "get on board or get out of the way" when it comes to DC Comics!
PL
PL - 2/3/2011, 5:37 PM
@PaulRom
I thought you Marvel fanboys always say that the only movies ever put out were the Iron Man films and Incredible Hulk, hmm.
@deanwilkins
Yeah dude ive been saying "Mark my words it will be great" too. Take a list of all the names that are saying its gonna flop because i gaurentee you all of the people slamming it will be saying they never doubted it.
@ cbegin09
what do you expect man shes just a little kid, sooner or later she'll realize to appreciate both comic companies and see that it isnt a competition.

Best of Luck to both companies this summer. But i have a strong feeling GL will be the powerhouse hit
TheDetectiveComicRises
TheDetectiveComicRises - 2/3/2011, 5:43 PM
PL U have a good point :)
FoxForce5
FoxForce5 - 2/3/2011, 6:42 PM
I'm really hoping for a Flash movie. Despite it's flaws, I think the Flash series from the early 90's was one of the best super hero TV shows of all time and I can't wait to see the character brought to life again (no, the Impulse charactrer from Smallville doesn't count).
TayDee
TayDee - 2/3/2011, 6:46 PM
cbegin09 - how has marvel's films fell off when only 3 has been in the theaters so far?
vermillion
vermillion - 2/3/2011, 6:53 PM
Can't wait for GL. Hopefully it'll be a great movie and surprise people who thinks it looks like crap. :F
vermillion
vermillion - 2/3/2011, 6:57 PM
DC has had amazing films: Superman: The Movie, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, etc. I don't think Marvel has put out "epic" movies yet. Iron Man is pretty close and The Incredible Hulk is really good. But I don't think they're up to the level of any of the DC movies I mentioned. Hopefully Cap or Thor can make it up to the list. IMO, DC > Marvel as of now.
PL
PL - 2/3/2011, 7:06 PM
@ intruder
even so dude, when someone lists X-Men or Spiderman etc. as a Marvel movie you all get technical about it and say "well legally it isnt a Marvel movie blah,blah,blah..." when you know in fact what people mean is that they are marvel characters, hensforth 'Marvel Movies!' So yeah, Marvel as a whole has had its fair share of flops.
Dude if GL looks like crap than captian america looks like shit lol. The pics for captian that have been released look nothing at all as "Amazing" as everyone is claiming it to be.Im hoping for a great movie and that I am wrong but then again i hoped Wolfman would be good too...
Knightstalker
Knightstalker - 2/3/2011, 7:18 PM
Oh great, here we go again, Marvel vs. DC, Welling vs. Routh, Cap & Thor vs. GL. This is just getting old.
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