Even though comic-book and superhero movies have been the dominant force in Hollywood for well over a decade now, there have still been plenty of failures along the way. This has certainly proven to be true with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has run into some choppy waters lately and is struggling to excite audiences to the same degree that it did five years ago. However,DChas been facing many of these issues for a long while now. Under Warner Bros, DC has produced a number of notable failures, ranging from this year’sThe Flashto 2017’sJustice Leagueand going as far back as 1997’sBatman & Robinand earlier.
One of the most trajectory-altering failures that DC has experienced came in 2011 with the release ofGreen Lantern, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Ryan Reynolds. There were a lot of high hopes for the movie, both from the studios that produced it and the fans who were eagerly awaiting it. Unfortunately, when the movie was released, it quickly became apparent that it was a dead end. It underperformed significantly at the box office, and the reception from both critics and fans was not kind, to say the least. Any plans forGreen Lanternsequels or spin-offs were abandoned, and the movie has largely been forgotten.
The failure of 2011’sGreen Lanternwas one of the most substantial inflection points for DC in the last 20 years. If the movie was a success,the current state of DC filmsand the comic book movie environment as a whole would likely be substantially different. There were planned sequels for the movie, as well as ideas for how to expand it into a universe to rival the MCU. Plus, it likely would have tied up Reynolds’ career to the degree that theDeadpoolmovies may not have been made. With all that in mind, we’ve decided to take a dive into what the original plans and ideas for a successfulGreen Lanternsequel were and how the film’s success would have altered the course of comic-book movies altogether.
Sinestro and the Yellow Lantern Corps
Firstly, one of the clearest ideas about the canceledGreen Lanternsequel is that it would have featured Sinestro as the primary antagonist, leading some iteration of the Sinestro Corps, otherwise known as the Yellow Lantern Corps. The early remnants of this plot are already at work in the firstGreen Lanternmovie, as Sinestro plays a full supporting role as one of the most powerful Green Lanterns (portrayed by Mark Strong). In the 2011 film, Sinestro convinces the Guardians of the Universe to forge a yellow power ring of fear in order to fight against the evils of Parallax. However, Reynolds’ Hal Jordan defeats the strange, gross, villainous space cloud before Sinestro has a chance to enact that plan.A post-credit sceneattached to the film shows Sinestro putting the yellow ring on and having his entire suit altered into his traditionally villainous Yellow Lantern attire.
The sequel that would have explored these ideas was already in active development beforeGreen Lanternhit theaters. In June 2010, a year beforeGreen Lanternwas even released, Warner Bros. hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, and Marc Guggenheim to write the script for the sequel. All three writers had worked on the first film, and this move was a tremendous show of confidence from the studio. That same year, Campbell confirmed that he and Warner Bros envisionedGreen Lanternas the first part of a trilogy, with numerous other characters being introduced and spun off throughout each entry.
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An Alternate DCU
That brings us to one of the biggest changes that would’ve occurredifGreen Lanternhad been a success; it would have served as the beginning of DC’s own interconnected cinematic universe of movies. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was already several years underway, after kicking off withIron ManandThe Incredible Hulkin 2008 and quickly following withIron Man 2,Thor,andCaptain Americain the following years. But the MCU had yet to reachThe Avengers, and so DC wasn’t all that far behind the competition. DC’s goal was forGreen Lanternto be theirIron Man, with Ryan Reynolds’ Hal Jordan playing a similarly central role in the DC film universe as Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark was to the MCU.
This DC universe would have shared some elements with the existing DCEU that we actually got. Primarily, Henry Cavill’s Superman would have factored into the universe, as Zack Snyder had already been hired to directMan of Steelin late 2010, and the movie began filming just a few months afterGreen Lantern’s release. As for other major DC characters like Batman and Wonder Woman, it’s impossible to know if they would have wound up being played by Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, respectively, or if they would have been cast differently for other projects.
What we do know is that the Flash would have been a priority for this universe from early on. When Berlanti, Green, and Gugenheim were hired to writeGreen Lantern 2in 2010, they also signed on to write a treatment forThe Flash. Given the subtle reference to the Scarlet Speedster’s home of Central City inGreen Lantern, as well as the two heroes’ close friendship in the comics and this early focus from WB and DC on bringingThe Flashto screen, it seems possible that Barry Allen/The Flash might have been introduced as a supporting character inGreen Lantern 2.
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Other Possibilities
Beyond the specific storylines that were teed up inGreen Lanternand the likely expansions into a wider DC film universe, there are a myriad of other possibilities that could have been worked intoGreen Lantern 2. One of the most intriguing is the future of Carol Ferris, the character played by Blake Lively in the 2011 film. In the comics, Ferris goes on to become the famous Violet Lantern anti-hero Star Sapphire. While it’s still a mystery if this change would have occurred inGreen Lantern 2or if it would have been saved for a climactic third installment, it is clear that Lively was excited about the possibility. While doing press for the first film, Lively talked about the potential of Star Sapphire in future installments, saying that she was excited about all the crazy things her character could do moving forward.
Additionally, considering the long line of human characters that have donned the Green Lantern mantle in the comics, it also seems possible that a sequel could have introduced some of these other heroes. Primarily, fans have long been waiting to seethe John Stewart iteration of Green Lanternin live action. He could have been introduced as a new Lantern that was needed to assist Reynolds’ Hal Jordan in his fight against Sinestro. Of course, in that same line of thinking, other characters like Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, or Alan Scott could have been worked into the story as well.
FollowingGreen Lantern 2and presumably anyJustice Leaguefilms that would have been developed by that point, the possibility of a thirdGreen Lanternfilm to close out the trilogy would have offered a lot of possibilities for the series. While it could have continued down the same path of introducing new Lantern Corps, such as the rageous Red Lantern Corps, the hopeful Blue Lantern Corps, or even the greedy Orange Lantern Corps, this could easily repeat some of the same ideas that introducing the Sinestro Corps inGreen Lantern 2would explore. Instead, we find it most likely that a thirdGreen Lanternfilm would have attempted to adapt the famous comic storylineBlackest Night, which sees Hal Jordan fighting against the embodiment of Death and a number of different zombified DC heroes.
