When the news broke that Goldeneye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell would helm Green Lantern, it inspired great confidence in the DC Comics adaptation. Unfortunately, the 2011 movie was a disaster.
Very little about it worked; the special effects were subpar, the story was all over the place, and most agreed that Ryan Reynolds was miscast as the heroic Hal Jordan.
Doing the rounds to promote his new movie Cleaner starring Daisy Ridley, Campbell admitted that he wishes Reynolds had got involved with Green Lantern's screenplay (the actor has since helped write each of the Deadpool movies, though was only credited for the second and third instalments).
"Look, Ryan’s terrific," the filmmaker told ComicBook.com. "We actually had a very good time making the movie. It was a tough one to make, and he and Blake Lively were great to work with. He’s always such a witty guy, you know ... I wish he’d written the script! I think he would have done a great job."
As for what he'd change about Green Lantern, Campbell regrets not figuring out a way to more effectively connect villains Parallax and Hector Hammond.
"After all, Parallax was really a cloud with a face on it, right?" he started. "You sort of somehow want that character to be related to the villain of the piece, you know. They should all interconnect somehow, and it didn’t in the script, but all the characters are very present in the comics - Sinestro, Kilowog, all the ... But, at the end of the day, it failed, which I was very sad about, but there you go. That’s life."
In 2021, Campbell was a little less positive about his Green Lantern experience. Asked what the worst fight he'd ever been in was during a Reddit AMA, he responded, "With the Warner executives, over Green Lantern."
He also dismissed the notion of ever making the leap to the MCU. "I'd love to work in comedy! I think I'd do a good job. Marvel? Forget it. I f***ed it up once, never again."
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, and Tim Robbins, Green Lantern was released to largely negative reviews in 2011. With a reported $200 million budget, it grossed only $237.2 million worldwide and was one of the biggest box office flops ever at the time.
Hal Jordan has been on the shelf ever since but will return, played by Kyle Chandler, in DC Studios' upcoming Lanterns TV series on HBO.