I’ve been reading Green Lantern comics ever since I was a kid leafing through my dad’s old piles of comics. Although Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman are my old-faithfuls, I’ve always had a soft spot for Green Lantern.
Like practically everyone else, I was incredibly disappointed with Warner Bros.’ first attempt at adapting this character on the big screen. They had a great opportunity to create an epic fantasy space opera, and (I won’t sugarcoat this) they blew it. Now, four years later, we’re hearing that WB plans on rebooting the aborted Green Lantern franchise in 2020.
Whether or not these plans will come to fruition, we have yet to see -- as of now, we can only speculate what this prospective film might look like.
As a massive nerd, a comic book reader, and as an audience member, here is my advice for Warner Bros. on how to treat a potential Green Lantern reboot.
1.) An Apology for the First One
This may seem a little harsh, but I think it’s the truth. It goes without saying that a second Green Lantern film has to be able to redeem the first. One of my fears is that WB is so intent on distancing themselves from Martin Campbell’s abysmal film that they are going to try and ignore the fact that it happened in the first place. Rumor has it they may even replace protagonist Hal Jordan with John Stewart, a different character entirely.
Reboots have a tendency of telling audiences, “Remember that other movie? No? Well neither do we! On with the show!”
A Green Lantern reboot should instead focus on telling audiences, “Remember that other movie? Yeah, sorry about that. Hope this one makes up for it.”
I hope you’re following me here.
Despite what snarky fanboys have to say in message boards, Hal Jordan is a genuinely great character. Basically what I’m saying is that I want Jordan to be redeemed rather than forgotten.
This leads me into my second point...
2.) Don’t Make it a Hard Reboot
I understand that by the time 2020 rolls around, it will have been nine whole years since 2011’s Green Lantern. It certainly is possible to create a hard reboot, but I have to ask: why retread ground we’ve already covered? Do we really want to see another superhero origin story?
I’d prefer it if we didn’t get a complete reboot -- instead, treat the new film almost as a quasi-sequel to the first one. A “requel,” if you will. How would they do that, you might ask? Just create a story that doesn’t contradict the events that already occurred in the first one. I’m not saying they should hire back Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively -- on the contrary, I think every role ought to be recast (yes, even Mark Strong’s Sinestro).
That said, I would love it if the next Green Lantern film had a different visual aesthetic from the 2011 one. I was never a fan of the CGI costume.
Keep in mind that I’m not saying the first Green Lantern film would definitely exist in the continuity of the DC Cinematic Universe -- all I’m saying is that movie could exist if you wanted it to. It would be left up to the viewers’ imagination to decide.
3.) Go Bigger, Go Darker
Yeah, yeah, “dark and gritty” is one of those phrases that really seems to set people off around here, but I think it’s the way to go here. Not only would it help align Green Lantern with the precedent set by Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, I think it would be a strong narrative choice as well.
The scope of this movie needs to feel much bigger than the first -- if I could think of a comparison, the Green Lantern reboot needs to be The Wrath of Khan to the 2011 film’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. After the first film’s failure, I don’t think WB can afford to pussyfoot around with Green Lantern -- they need to come out of the gate guns blazing. This should be the film that sets the bar for the rest of the franchise to follow.
In other words, this should be something akin to Green Lantern’s The Dark Knight.
Honestly, that’s the only way I can see audiences accepting the character after the weak reception the first film received.
4.) Set it in Outer Space
If there’s one thing Guardians of the Galaxy proved, it’s that audiences are open to seeing non-Earthbound superheroes. One of the many complaints leveled against WB’s original Green Lantern is that too much of the film was set on Earth -- and I have to agree with that sentiment.
The most interesting thing about Green Lantern as a character is that he is a space ranger. He travels the stars discovering all forms of whacky alien life on crazy alien planets. He crosses the barriers between dimensions and punches through the boundaries of the universe itself. There is NO REASON for him to be spending his time on Earth. All it does is make the character feel like more of a generic superhero.
Now I’m not saying Earth shouldn’t appear at all. It would be nice to catch a couple brief glimpses of our humble blue planet, just to establish that it exists in this gigantic DC universe. However, our time would be much better spent on Oa, or Qward, or Korugar, or even the living planet Mogo.
Give Earth a break. Superman’s got that place covered.
5.) A Strong Antagonist
One of the weakest parts of 2011’s Green Lantern was its handling of the villains. Parallax -- who is the nebulous embodiment of fear in the comics -- was turned into literal nebula made out of diarrhea. Hector Hammond -- a terrible villain through and through -- was treated as an afterthought.
Villains create conflict, and conflict is what drives a story. I understand that the original film tried to create conflict by making Hal Jordan himself conflicted, but that goes against everything that makes Jordan an interesting character. Hal is not some self-doubting beta-male, he’s brimming with self-confidence to the point that it borders on arrogance. He’s not a quitter who gives up after someone tells him, “You suck,” he turns that humiliation into a drive to be better.
The best way to create conflict in a Green Lantern story is to give him a powerful enemy: I think it’s high time that Sinestro shows everyone what he’s capable of.
Some of the greatest Green Lantern stories involve our heroes actually losing the battle to an enemy more powerful than them -- read the “Krona War” story arc from Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, or Geoff Johns’ classic “Sinestro Corps War.”
The excitement in these stories doesn’t come from seeing our heroes pummel the villains; it comes from seeing them struggle with all their might after being constantly battered and beaten down, until they must finally make a last ditch effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
That’s what makes Green Lantern a great character: seeing him persevere through sheer force of will when all hope seems to be lost. The only Green Lantern villain worthy enough to create that kind of conflict is Sinestro.
Well, there you have it -- those are my thoughts on how to cinematically treat Green Lantern. Do you agree? Disagree? Like it? Hate it? Comment below and let me know.
Take it easy, everybody.