The popular DC comics character, Green Lantern, will be featured for the first time in a live-action film this summer under the direction of Martin Campbell (Casino Royale).
Ryan Reynolds, who stars as the title character, is at WonderCon in San Francisco today with his co-star Blake Lively (Carol Ferris), and DC’s chief creative officer Geoff Johns for a panel discussion – followed by select press interviews.
We were there to attend the panel and speak with the stars, and have created a video breakdown with our friend Eric Eisenberg from Cinema Blend on all things Green Lantern.
But first — take a look at the abridged version of the WonderCon Green Lantern footage!
(Head over to Apple.com for uber-HD versions)
As you can see from the opening in this trailer, the CGI for Mark Strong’s Sinestro is phenomenal, it seamlessly blends actor and character; though, this rousing speech came at the end of the full sequence that we were shown. The full scene included the introduction to Parallax (mostly effective here as the embodiment of fear) and his defeat of Abin-Sur, Hal Jordan’s acceptance of the ring, his journey to Oa and the inception of his training with Tomar-Re (the first footage of Geoffrey Rush’s voice work), which is perfectly suited to the role.
As we discuss in the panel wrap-up below, the look of the footage is a vast improvement over the original trailer that was released. Warner Bros. has made the necessary adjustments, and the suit on Hal Jordan is one that most fans will likely be able to get behind (thought the mask still needs a bit of tweaking). The tone of the film, as seen thus far, is grounded yet inspirational as well as exhilarating, and entertaining – while maintaining a sense of the consequences and responsibility involved in becoming a member of the Corps. The focus here is on Jordan becoming a Lantern and beginning to learn who and what they represent. We look forward to seeing more footage of his time and relationships on Earth in the near future, and hope that it’s as exciting as what we see have seen here.
As to the panel itself, and a recap of the footage we were shown check out the video of our breakdown below:
Highlights from the event included:
– As mentioned, several minutes of footage establishing Hal Jordan’s introduction to, and relationship with, the Green Lantern Corps – including a preview of Geoffrey Rush voicing Tomar-Re (in short — it works). The tone of the footage was lighter than The Dark Knight certainly but not without some sense of the situation’s weight. Warner Bros. brought footage geared towards the fans of Green Lantern and the crowd was enthusiastic about what they were shown. There was a deafening roar when Hal was able to make the oath (after a moment of stumbling with “I pledge allegiance to this lantern, that was given to me by a dying purple alien”) – and Sinestro’s speech to the Corps at the close of the clips inspired an equal amount of excitement.
– Reynolds responded to a fan making reference to Deadpool as a villain by saying “he’s not a villain, he’s just an a**hole.” He also elaborated on a potential Deadpool spin-off: “There are so many unknowns,” and though he had a lot of fun playing Deadpool, “there was a lot I would have done differently, and if I ever do get to do it, we are going to do it the right way. A hard R [rating].”
– Geoff Johns confirmed that a Justice League movie is in development (as we know), though Reynolds has not yet been approached to be a part of the film.
– When an audience member asked what Green Lantern had to offer in a field full of comic-book films, Reynolds responded: “Does it seem like this crowd is being bombarded by superhero movies? Do you think they’re waiting for ‘Black Swan 2?'”
– Reynolds also indicated that he feels Bradley Cooper would make a good Flash.
– Blake Lively mentioned that she would be exited to see Star Sapphire come to life – but would like to see her wear a “few more scraps of material.”
– Last, but certainly not least, a much improved CGI costume for Reynolds – sans a few lingering issues with the mask. When asked about his thoughts on the costume Reynolds replied that he had “argued for straight up fish-net, but the suit is pure energy, so CGI is the only option.” Warner Bros. recently apologized for the first Green Lantern trailer and have waited to release another official look at the film until they are happy with the effects – so expect next GL trailer to screen in front of Thor on May 6th.
Take a look at the newly released poster for the film below to get an early sense of what the costume adjustments look like.
As we summarized at the close of the video, the general consensus is, it’s safe to get excited about Green Lantern again.
Green Lantern comes to theaters on June 17th, 2011.
The cast includes: Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern; Blake Lively as Carol Ferris; Peter Sarsgaard as Dr. Hector Hammond; Mark Strong as Sinestro.
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