When "Green Lantern" hit the cinema in 2011, fans had mixed expectations. Some thought Ryan Reynolds was perhaps too much of a goofball to take on a superhero role. Others thought his carefree persona might be a perfect fit for 'Hal Jordan', one of the cockier characters to take up the 'Green Lantern mantle'. Regardless of how anyone felt about Reynolds specifically, though, the film was pretty much a bomb:
RottenTomatoes.com gave it a disastrous 26% positive rating based on reviews across the media, including snippets from those reviews such as, "How many more of these superhero movies can we take?" from The Wrap's Leah Rozen.
That particular comment is amusing in retrospect, because of course the answer to Ms. Rozen's plea turned out to be many, many more.
But in the constant onslaught of superhero films from Marvel, DC, and their studio collaborators, "Green Lantern" has been utterly forgotten. The clearest indication of its lack of popularity with fans is simply that it never got a sequel. In superhero film terms, that pretty much means things are dead until someone wants to do a full reboot.
But the failure of "Green Lantern" to resonate with a wide audience goes beyond the lack of a sequel. As it turned out, the film barely even made enough of an impact to land a meaningful gaming adaptation, which is something most every popular superhero film has done.
"Green Lantern: Rise Of The Manhunters" was released in collaboration with the film for use on consoles and apps. It all but disappeared, though, and received a 59/100 score on Metacritic.com. Now, it's hard to find even ordering online.
The most noteworthy remaining gaming option dealing with 'Green Lantern' is Intercasino.com's slot machine take on the superhero.
Implementing visual themes and characters from the film and from Green Lantern lore, the game adjusts a regular slot gaming format to spice things up with a bit of comic fiction.
And particularly due to the Green Lantern saga's dependence on symbols (the one iconic lantern symbol in particular), the game is kind of neat for fans. But neither this nor "Rise Of The Manhunters" comes across as a playable adaptation of a major film franchise.
All things considered, the truth is that no one seemed to care much about "Green Lantern." Many fans of the classic comics found it cheesy and disappointing, and those who just wanted to see a fun action film found it difficult to relate to.
And as mentioned, the sentence for an uninteresting superhero film these days tends to be death, at least in the sense that the slate is wiped clean and a reboot may or may not be attempted a few years later.
Here we are a few years later, and indeed it is beginning to look like a sure thing that there will be another film about the 'Green Lantern Corps'.
IMDB.com lists the next film with a 2020 release date, so it's still a long way off, but it has been officially included in DC's extensive lineup of future projects. As for what else we know about it at this stage, it's more or less anyone's guess.
The one rumor that's been persistent across the Internet is that Tyrese Gibson is the title role. According to CinemaBlend.com, Gibson essentially stated on his own 'Instagram; account that he'd be taking the role (or rather, posted an image of himself photoshopped into the costume with a suggestive quote or two).
While no such report has actually been confirmed, there's one detail that might support the idea. Comicbook.com revealed earlier this year that 'John Stewart' and not 'Hal Jordan', will likely be the Green Lantern character in the next attempt.
For those less familiar with these specific comments, Stewart is just another hero who assumed the Green Lantern role, particularly in the "Justice League" animated series. He also happens to be African-American, which naturally coincides with the potential casting of Tyrese Gibson.
For now, we'll just have to wait and see about details. But after the colossal failure of the 2011 attempt, DC is moving forward with a new Green Lantern project...
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