The 2017 film Justice League had a troubled production history, with the film undergoing major changes before and during production. This resulted in the theatrical release being very different from how the film had been envisioned by its original director Zack Snyder. For more than two years many fans (and some of the film's stars) have campaigned for Snyder (using #ReleaseTheSnyderCut) to create a version of the film that more closely aligned with his original vision which include unused villains like Darkseid. In May 2020, HBO and Warner Bros. announced that "The "Snyder Cut" would be an exclusive to the new HBO Max streaming service and the project will launch sometime in 2021. This version will reportedly cost $20–30 million to complete with special effects, editing, and other revisions. Is the Snyder cut a positive thing, allowing a creator to finally realize his true vision in some way and an admittance that the studio made a mistake with the original. In contrast, could the Snyder Cut demonstrate that movie studios are listening too much to a vocal group of fans about a film that even with significant revisions may not fully satisfy its audience? Lastly, would Warner Bros. have allowed the Snyder Cut to be created in a time period where they didn't have a massive streaming service (HBO Max) to promote/sell to consumers.
Justice League will debut next November. The Justice League, also known as the Justice League of America, has been DC Comics most prominent super hero team for 56 years! Now, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg will now join forces to fight the forces of evil and defend the innocent on the big screen.
However, there is one long time member of the Justice League that is missing…Green Lantern. Green Lantern is one of DC Comics "flagship" titles and has been a long time staple of the Justice League. So why no Green Lantern? Is it because the Green Lantern film from 2011 starring Ryan Reynolds bombed in the box office? Possibly.
But another reason may be the fact that DC Comics has been retooling and updating Green Lantern for decades, in order to make Green Lantern a more diverse character. As a result, there have been seven prominent versions of the ring wielding hero. Hal Jordan, who is Caucasian and was played by Reynolds in 2011, has been DC Comics definitive Lantern since 1960.
However, DC Comics has allowed minorities, such as John Stewart from the Justice League animated series, to take the ring for a time. A film focusing on the Green Lantern Corps is supposedly coming out in 2020, but Warner Bros has yet to reveal which Lantern will lead the Corps. Should DC Comics and Warner Bros remain faithful to the source material and fandom by giving Hal Jordan a second chance, or should they let a more diverse character become the definitive Green Lantern for their Cinematic Universe, and an entire generation of young super hero fans? This article would go into the histories of each major Green Lantern (Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, and Jessica Cruz) in order to see which Green Lantern should join the DC Comics Cinematic Universe.
I think, in order to create the cinematic universe it so covets, DC has to introduce two or more Lanterns in one movie. Then they could do a great character dichotomy/foil thing, which would develop multiple characters (as pretty much none of their characters are developed at this point, in part due to lack of substantive character interactions). I'd say intro Hal as Parallax, and they develop Guy and John (so much great contrast there, I love it), but I was always a fan of chronology. Probably with John as the protagonist and Guy as comedic relief. Alan....doesn't count in my head, ha. Kyle is great, but they could start him off as Ion to avoid overcrowding GLs. Simon and Jessica probably don't have enough stories to adapt yet. Now I really want to write this topic, but don't have the time... Good luck to whomever writes this! I greatly look forward to reading it. – m-cubed8 years ago
A couple of weeks ago, DC officially announced that Green Lantern Corps would be made starring both Hal Jordan and John Stewart, so maybe the article could instead focus more on the comic origins and significance of those characters and what they would be contributing to the DCCU? And possibly why another Lantern may have been a better decision if the author feels that way. – LC Morisset8 years ago
