I'm reposting this so that I can post the second part alongside the first part
For five months I have contemplated on how to reboot one of the most beloved characters' storyline to be original when appearing onscreen and to fit the context of "realistic" in the ways Man of Steel has so uniquely explored. Please take your time to read not only the story, but also the explanations for castings and so on, enjoy.
Work Title: Emerald Dawn
Story: Before any other sentient beings existed in the universe, a race of beings calling themselves the Guardians of the Universe harnessed the power of the green element, the greatest power in the universe, to create the Green Lantern battery. However, the battery was vulnerable to yellow. The Guardians hid the most concentrated source of the yellow energy, the yellow element, to prevent others from using it against them.
In a planet named Korugar, it is told that a war has left the planet in ruins and a group of anthropologists and archaeologists travel the world collecting art and artifacts for preservation. One of the sides at war, the Khund, wants all art destroyed and wants to build a new settlement atop Korugar's ruins. Soldiers come to the home of one anthropologist, Thaal Sinestro, to take the artifacts that were in his protection. In the process of searching the home, they kill the wife of Thaal Sinestro. Sinestro acts out of anger, defends his daughter and kills the soldiers. He rose against the Khund, becoming a rebel, and after taking back control of Korugar, he becomes their King and is granted a Green Lantern ring for his indomitable will.
On Earth, a boy is flying a cropduster, going very fast. When he lands, a man is waiting for him. The man says, "Your mother called me over, said you took the plane out when you were supposed to be in school." The boy is addressed as Hal and the man as Ace. They are sitting in a restaurant talking about how Hal won't go to school then Hal reveals he wants to become a pilot. Hal says that his father (which is mentioned to have died) was his hero. Ace tells him that when he turns 18 he can enlist but not a second before then will he be able to fly planes. On Hal's 18th birthday he's waiting outside the Air Force Base Office. The door opens and Ace is at the door. Hal says,"I'm here to enlist in the United States Air Force...sir." Ace smirks.
18 years later. Abin Sur is working undercover on the ship of a notorious pirate named Kanjar Ro who had stolen yellow matter, an illegal substance hidden away in a location unknown which is said to be the strongest element in the universe. He had been spotted by one of the pirates aboard the ship, Byth Rok, who attacked him and drained his ring's energy. Abin Sur was able to hijack an escape vessel while destroying Kanjar Ro's ship. Fleeing to Earth, the nearest planet, he had his ring find his successor and died of his injury shortly after.
Hal Jordan is flying over Siberia, patrolling the area to uncover the location of a communist-driven terrorist organization known as the Rocket Red Brigade. Flying with another plane which is being piloted by his then girlfriend, Jillian Pearlman, she is shot in the wing by a missile and she bails, flying back to base. Hal is forced to circle back and locate the shooter. He sees them, targets them, and takes them out being forced to pull his chute after, he himself, is shot in the wing. He lands atop a tree and is found by two trucks of members of the terrorist group, to which he says "shit." He is put in a cell and held for a few days. After several interrogations, Hal then meets the Brigade's leader, a bald man with a #1 on his chest. Over the course of that night, Hal wakes up hearing noises. The door of the cell is wide open and the hallway is glowing green. Hal follows a light through the cave base where he is held. The guards in the hallway are asleep and he walks right past them. One wakes up because of the light and Hal grabs the guard's gun and hits it against his head (bringing humor to the viewer). He is following this light through the tundra for what seems like a few miles, believing it to be a beacon of some sort. In the distance, he sees the source of the light and runs towards it. Hal finds a crashed alien ship with a hole in the rear. He enters to find the pilot and is shocked to find an alien. The Alien's last words were, "I never thought I'd see the day... A human." A ring from the alien's finger lifts up onto Hal's finger, wrapping him with an aura of green and a burst of light (resembling the cover of Emerald Dawn).
Hal wakes up. It's been three months since that day. He gets up from a futuristic bed to open the shutters and it displays the view of an alien planet: Oa. Hal is having breakfast with Kilowog, his drill sergeant, still disgusted at the food served. He has a hearing with the Guardians, the leaders of this corps, to discuss Hal's recklessness. The scene then flashes back to Hal as a test pilot, speaking with his brother about his recklessness. He's ranting about how he makes his mother worry and joining the army has torn their family apart. The guardians are telling Hal that because of his recklessness, Sinestro has been assigned to take Hal under his wing and show him the ropes. They are going to find the killer of Hal Jordan's predecessor, Abin Sur. In a mission to find Abin Sur's killer, Jordan quickly comes to understand that Sinestro's beliefs are not in line with those of the Guardians: Sinestro believes that the Guardians have reduced the Corps to merely picking up the messes criminals create as opposed to proactively dealing with the problem. Sinestro used a "bad cop" routine to interrogate a prostitute at a bar to find the location of Abin's killer. Hal was able to catch the killer after a long chase sequence. To find Kanjar, Sinstro tortures Byth Rok to death, a frowned-upon act, but doesn't result in any major consequences. During a mission to capture Kanjar Ro, Jordan is knocked unconscious by Kanjar's energy staff. Sinestro comes in and kills Kanjar. Hal wakes up and Sinestro beats him to a pulp after Hal calls him a traitor. He drains his ring and Hal manages to escape in a pod but is shot by Sinestro, spiraling the pod in the direction of a nearby planet. Sinestro tries to follow the pod but is distracted as other Green Lanterns arrive at the scene.
Back at Oa, Sinestro uses his ring to temporarily animate Kanjar's corpse, allowing him to learn the location of Qward where the yellow element weapon is being fashioned. Kilowog convinces fellow lanterns Boodikka and Tomar-Re that Sinestro is not what he seems. When they catch Sinestro red-handed, Boodikka reveals her true allegiance and incapacitates Kilowog, allowing Sinestro to escape. Kilowog tricks her into destroying Kanjar's unstable energy staff, the explosion launching her into the tools hanging from the ceiling and killing her.
Meanwhile, Hal finds himself on a planet with many deadly plants that want that follow him everywhere. Caught in the mouth of a deadly plant, he is saved by a being named Saint Walker. Saint Walker tells him the history of the light spectrum and the different colors of energy and their emotions. He then says the story of Bolphunga, an unrelenting gladiator who spent several months on that planet trying to find a worthy warrior who then realizes that the strongest being in the universe that he is searching for IS that planet, named Mogo. Hal then discovers that the planet is alive. He is also told that Mogo is a Green Lantern.
On Qward, the Weaponers bestow Sinestro with the yellow ring and battery, the latter of which resembles Ranx the Sentient City. After teaching Hal the lessons of the universe and the history of the light spectrum, Saint Walker takes Hal to a graveyard of ships that Mogo has trapped. One ship is still fully functional. Hal uses the ship to escape and return to Oa. Sinestro has taken his battery to Oa. Using its power, he lays waste to Oa, the yellow light easily overpowering the Green Lantern rings. The yellow battery destroys the green battery, rendering all the Green Lantern Corps' power rings inert and causing death by asphyxiation of countless Green Lanterns who were in space at the time of their rings' failure. Jordan, having returned and recovered his ring moments too late, finds the green power battery and pounds on the inert green element. He places his ring on the small crack that appears, absorbing the whole of its power. Imbued with the full might of the green energy, he destroys the yellow battery by crushing it between two moons.
Having exhausted most of the green power to destroy the yellow battery, Jordan is left to fight against Sinestro under his own power. After an intense hand-to-hand battle without constructs, Jordan uses the last of his power to knock Sinestro to the surface of Oa where Kilowog crushes the yellow ring (as well as Sinestro's hand) with his foot. Having regained partial power to his ring earlier, Kilowog takes to the air and saves Jordan from a fatal fall to the planet's surface. The green power battery is destroyed and Oa is in ruins. Hundreds of Green Lanterns are dead but the Green Lantern Corps still lives on. They have temporarily relocated the Corps to Mogo where they will begin anew.
In the third-to-last scene of the film, Hal is seen giving the Green Lantern emblems to several new recruits, one of which is Guy Gardner. Hal returns to Earth and is seen going into a bar called "Challengers of the Unknown". He sits down and orders a drink and the bartender hands him the drink with a smirk, saying "I'll be damned". In the final scene, Saint Walker is on top of a mountain on Mogo and he is awarded a Blue Lantern power ring, being named the first Blue Lantern Corps member.
(Film Running Time: 2 hours 45 minutes)
Director - Rupert Wyatt
Notable Works: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I think he's great.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes has everything I want in a Green Lantern film: great actor presence, great adapted screenplay, great visual effects, not too over-the-top humor, and great action.
Others Considered: Peter Jackson, Duncan Jones, Neill Blomkamp, Wachowskis
Screenplay - Neil Druckman
Notable Works: The Last of Us
His work on The Last of Us was incredible and, in every sense of the word, game-changing. Though it was a videogame, the script written for it was far superior than any movie I've seen ALL YEAR! Great writer.
Others Considered: Mark Boal
Casting
Hal Jordan 12 yrs. old - CJ Adams
Notable Works: The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Godzilla
A great young actor who has shown great talent in The Odd Life of Timothy Green and has great presence.
Others Considered: None
Hal Jordan 18 yrs. old - Callan McAuliffe
Notable Works: I Am Number Four, The Great Gatsby
Callan McAuliffe is a great actor but this is a very minor role so acting ability isn't as big as the looks and how much he looks like the other two so this works perfectly.
Others Considered: None
Ace Morgan - Josh Holloway
Notable Works: Lost, Intelligence, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
A great actor who I feel is overqualified for such a small role but he is so perfect for it too.
Others Considered: None
Hal Jordan 36 yrs old - Josh Hartnett
Notable Works: Lucky Number Slevin, Pearl Harbor, Penny Dreadful
He is an amazing actor who has lost his star status in recent years. As Iron Man brought back RDJ, I believe Hartnett is perfect for this role as he has just enough of arrogance to be a great Hal but not be so over-the-top comedic as Ryan Reynolds' portrayal.
Others Considered: Joel Edgerton, Matt Damon, John Krasinski
Sinestro - Kiefer Sutherland
Notable Works: 24, Mirrors, Pompeii
I know, this is a very oddball choice but I know he's perfect for it. He's got the grittiness of an experienced Sinestro and the ability to portray a villain for the second half of the film.
Others Considered: Keanu Reeves, James Purefoy, Woody Harrelson, Sean Penn
Kilowog - Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Notable Works: Watchmen, The Losers, Supernatural
Morgan has the acting chops and the right voice I was looking for. He's got that raspy, experienced voice which is perfect for Kilowog.
Others Considered: Michael Madsen
Abin Sur - Giancarlo Esposito
Notable Works: Breaking Bad, Revolution
Giancarlo is a great actor and is also a great villain. Unfortunately, Abin Sur is not a villain but he has many scenes for the proposed Emerald Dawn film and an older actor is perfect for Sinestro's mentor, Abin Sur.
Saint Walker - Ben Whishaw
Notable Works: Cloud Atlas, Skyfall
Whishaw is a great actor who has the smooth, peaceful voice I wanted in Saint Walker.
Others Considered: Alan Tudyk, Keanu Reeves, Doug Jones
Tomar Re - Alan Tudyk
Notable Works: Firefly, I,Robot
Tudyk is a great actor who is no stranger to CGI or makeup and is a step in the opposite direction from the british Geoffrey Rush who previously played Tomar. Essentially, I wanted to give the character the swagger he has in GL the Animated Series and I feel Tudyk can do it perfectly.
Others Considered: Doug Jones, Simon Pegg
Boodikka - Carrie Ann Moss
Notable Works: The Matrix Trilogy
Moss is a great actress who is not unfamiliar to action movies and has the right badass-ness to pull off the character. She's perfect for this role.
Others Considered: Keri Russell, Robin Wright
Kanjar Ro - Walton Goggins
Notable Works: Justified, Django Unchained
I made this casting decision based on Walton's previous work on Django where he plays a role similar to that of Kanjar Ro. I'm looking for a space cowboy/pirate and I'm confident wit this decision.
Others Considered: Jackie Earle Haley, Thomas Haden Church, Nathan Fillion
Byth Rok - Joseph Gatt
Notable Works: Banshee, Star Trek Into Darkness
Gatt was a great villain in Banshee but the main reason I casted him was not because of his ability but rather his looks. To me, he looks like a creepy, villainous, alien. Byth Rok is a Thanagarian so he doesn't need makeup but the role would need a strange-looking actor to differenciate from the humans.
Salakk - Michael Stuhlbarg
Notable Works: Boardwalk Empire, Men in Black 3, A Serious Man
Stuhlbarg is great on Boardwalk Empire but I chose him specifically for his work on MIB3 where he portrayed a genius-level, monotone alien which is exactly what I wanted in Salakk.
Others Considered: Doug Jones, Tom Kenny
Guy Gardner - Aaron Paul
Notable Works: Breaking Bad, Need for Speed
Gatorade Me, Bitch.
Others Considered: Jai Courtney
Jillian Pearlman - Jessica Stroup
Notable Works: The Following
On The Following, she plays Max Hardy, Ryan Hardy's niece. She is great on the show and plays the role of the badass chick really well. However, for this film the role is very minor so that's why I went with a relatively unknown actress.
Others Considered: Keri Russell, Malin Akerman
Ganthet - Jeffrey Wright
Notable Works: Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Source Code
He has this monotone, smart-sounding voice that would be perfect for the wise Oan Ganthet but he can also make the voice perfect for a good character like Beetee.
Others Considered: Jim Broadbent
Appa Ali Apsa - Jim Broadbent
Notable Works: Cloud Atlas, The Harry Potter Series
He's a great actor who is capable of a smart, bad guy role. The role would be similar to his previous role in Cloud Atlas of Vyvyan Ayrs.
Others Considered: Bill Nighy
- Cameo Sequences -
Steve Trevor - Gabriel Macht
Notable Works: Suits, Behind Enemy Lines
A great actor who has just the right amount of suave and cockiness to play Trevor.
Others Considered: Patrick Wilson, Joel Edgerton
Thanks for reading. Sound off below or hit the big red glove if you like it. Stay tuned for the sequel to this story: Emerald Knights or feel free to take a look at my previous works.
Thanks again,
GeoffJohns