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GREEN LANTERN ON FILM: It Needs the Star Wars Approach / 5 Ways to Save ‘Green Lantern 2′
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TMC
Feb 22, 2013, 4:11:18 AM2/22/13
to
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/scifimediazone/news/?a=74570
The writer identifying himself as "Vadakin" continues his exploration
of what is needed for various DC characters to work on the big screen.
Having already tackled Batman and Aquaman, he now turns his attention
to Green Lantern.
EdGross - 2/21/2013
Over the course of this series, we're exploring ways to make prominent
DC heroes, members of the Justice League, work as films. Green
Lantern, of course, has already had a film and it wasn't successful.
In preparing for this article, it was impossible to avoid thinking
about the 2011 Ryan Reynolds film, which was designed to be the
beginning of a new era for Warner Brothers and their DC properties.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy was winding down and Superman was
in limbo. Meanwhile, Marvel was seeing continued success in their
build up to The Avengers. So it fell to Green Lantern to light the
way. It didn't work. The movie was a failure at the box office. But
why did it go wrong? Where did it go wrong?
In Blackest Night
The truth is, Green Lantern wasn't a bad movie, proving itself to be
mediocre at worst. Poor marketing in the months leading up to release
failed to create any significant buzz about the film while unfinished
effects shots in teasers and trailers made it look cheap, and the now
infamous “I know, right?” moment in it was deemed a calling card for
an overly comedic Reynolds performance that in the film, didn't
materialize. But the damage had been done on the marketing side. Then
there's the film itself. A bland performance from Blake Lively didn't
help matters and Martin Campbell, while more than competent as a
director, never felt like the right person to tackle a big sci-fi
adventure. Then there's the script. The first draft of the script is
actually really good. But as with most things in the Hollywood system,
everyone has notes, everyone has to have their say and the result was
a watered down shooting draft that failed to reach Green Lantern's
true potential.
But the biggest problem with the Green Lantern movie is that it felt
small. In spite of involving aliens and an army of space cops, the
movie never really felt like it had the scale you would expect from
the character. One of the biggest complaints about the film is that it
spent too much time on Earth and not enough time on Oa or visiting
alien worlds. Fans spent years talking about Green Lantern's potential
to be a sci-fi epic while detractors questioned the logic of making
any kind of Green Lantern movie. This film was supposed to prove those
detractors wrong. It didn't. In keeping the movie local to Sector 2814
for large sections, the film makers failed to grasp what the property
was truly capable of. Green Lantern had been pitched to Warner
Brothers as a trilogy but it failed to get out of the starting gate
and, in the end, felt too much like 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four
films.
Now it falls to an old reliable to kickstart DC's new era. Man Of
Steel will seek to do what Green Lantern failed to do and prepare the
audience for a post-Dark Knight movie world to compete with Marvel.
But what of Green Lantern? Should Warner Brothers reboot? Should
Reynolds get another movie? Should he appear in Justice League or
should Hal Jordan be put out to pasture in favor of Kyle Rayner or
John Stewart? Does anybody even want to see Guy Gardner? Looking to
the future, there are many directions Green Lantern can go, but there
is one thing, above all, that Warner Brothers needs to get straight in
their minds.
Green Lantern Is Star Wars
It is. Let's be honest with ourselves here. You can break it down. The
Green Lanterns are Jedi. They have strange powers and light-based
weapons. They guard peace and justice. The Guardians of the Galaxy are
a Jedi Council full of Yoda clones. The rings are lightsabers.The
Manhunters are effectively Stormtroopers, a created army fighting for
peace only to turn on their masters. Sinestro is Count Dooku, a legend
within the Corp, who becomes disillusioned and seeks out power to end
what he sees is corruption only to become consumed by that thirst for
power. Even Hal Jordan has a Darth Vader turn in the comics when a
tragedy causes him to go mad with grief and become evil and hunt down
the Green Lanterns only to have a final moment of redemption.
Ever since the release of the original Star Wars in 1977, movie
studios have searched for a way to recapture what that movie did, not
only at the box office but in merchandising. In theory, Green Lantern
has it all. It has the merchandising potential that Warner Brothers
have long been desperate to exploit, but I believe it also has the box
office potential in creating an experience like Star Wars or Avatar.
If and when the next Green Lantern movie materializes, it should fully
embrace the space opera aspect of the mythos. There's an entire
universe to explore. Cosmic threats that demand cosmic heroes. In Hal
Jordan you have a hero with the swagger of Han Solo and the charm of
Captain Kirk.
Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
and Star Wars. I don't believe Green Lantern works as a traditional
superhero, living in a city, fighting crime and saving lives. The
source of his power indicates a much grander story in a much larger
universe. He should be hunting war criminals on Thanagar, not spending
his days tackling muggers. As Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Hal Jordan
has more to protect than just a single world and while connecting the
threat to Earth in some way can make things more personal and give the
audience a reason to care, the scale shouldn't be reduced to an Earth-
based story.
By giving Green Lantern the Star Wars treatment, it also places the
character in a unique position for Justice League. I've long
maintained that what will make Justice League work (more on this in
the coming weeks) is that each hero is different. Avengers worked by
connecting the heroes, Justice League will work by separating them and
Green Lantern fits a cosmic niche within the line-up.
Normally at this point, I'd talk a little about Hal Jordan's story and
his journey in becoming Green Lantern of Sector 2814. The trouble is,
we've had a movie about that already and now Warner Brothers face a
dilemma. There are different options on the table and I will attempt
to explore some of the pros and cons of these options.
Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/scifimediazone/news/?a=74570#CTgSHJvpwJjxphko.99
http://screenrant.com/green-lantern-2-sequel-reboot-story/
We all know it: Green Lantern (2011) missed the mark, and missed it by
a mile (read our review, if you must), ultimately stranding any plans
for Green Lantern 2 in limbo.
The hero might end up getting a second chance alongside the rest of
DC's finest in Justice League... if it ever gets made. But we're still
convinced (as is DC executive and GL-mastermind Geoff Johns) that the
character could work on film, given the right set-up and story.
Rather than nitpick every single thing the movie got wrong (we've done
that already), we've put together a plan for not only convincing fans
that the mistakes of the first movie wouldn't be repeated, but also
delivering an adventure worthy of the character, while providing
enough mythos for future sequels.
Read on for our instructions on How To Save Green Lantern 2 in 5 Easy
Steps.
The writer identifying himself as "Vadakin" continues his exploration
of what is needed for various DC characters to work on the big screen.
Having already tackled Batman and Aquaman, he now turns his attention
to Green Lantern.
EdGross - 2/21/2013
Over the course of this series, we're exploring ways to make prominent
DC heroes, members of the Justice League, work as films. Green
Lantern, of course, has already had a film and it wasn't successful.
In preparing for this article, it was impossible to avoid thinking
about the 2011 Ryan Reynolds film, which was designed to be the
beginning of a new era for Warner Brothers and their DC properties.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy was winding down and Superman was
in limbo. Meanwhile, Marvel was seeing continued success in their
build up to The Avengers. So it fell to Green Lantern to light the
way. It didn't work. The movie was a failure at the box office. But
why did it go wrong? Where did it go wrong?
In Blackest Night
The truth is, Green Lantern wasn't a bad movie, proving itself to be
mediocre at worst. Poor marketing in the months leading up to release
failed to create any significant buzz about the film while unfinished
effects shots in teasers and trailers made it look cheap, and the now
infamous “I know, right?” moment in it was deemed a calling card for
an overly comedic Reynolds performance that in the film, didn't
materialize. But the damage had been done on the marketing side. Then
there's the film itself. A bland performance from Blake Lively didn't
help matters and Martin Campbell, while more than competent as a
director, never felt like the right person to tackle a big sci-fi
adventure. Then there's the script. The first draft of the script is
actually really good. But as with most things in the Hollywood system,
everyone has notes, everyone has to have their say and the result was
a watered down shooting draft that failed to reach Green Lantern's
true potential.
But the biggest problem with the Green Lantern movie is that it felt
small. In spite of involving aliens and an army of space cops, the
movie never really felt like it had the scale you would expect from
the character. One of the biggest complaints about the film is that it
spent too much time on Earth and not enough time on Oa or visiting
alien worlds. Fans spent years talking about Green Lantern's potential
to be a sci-fi epic while detractors questioned the logic of making
any kind of Green Lantern movie. This film was supposed to prove those
detractors wrong. It didn't. In keeping the movie local to Sector 2814
for large sections, the film makers failed to grasp what the property
was truly capable of. Green Lantern had been pitched to Warner
Brothers as a trilogy but it failed to get out of the starting gate
and, in the end, felt too much like 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four
films.
Now it falls to an old reliable to kickstart DC's new era. Man Of
Steel will seek to do what Green Lantern failed to do and prepare the
audience for a post-Dark Knight movie world to compete with Marvel.
But what of Green Lantern? Should Warner Brothers reboot? Should
Reynolds get another movie? Should he appear in Justice League or
should Hal Jordan be put out to pasture in favor of Kyle Rayner or
John Stewart? Does anybody even want to see Guy Gardner? Looking to
the future, there are many directions Green Lantern can go, but there
is one thing, above all, that Warner Brothers needs to get straight in
their minds.
Green Lantern Is Star Wars
It is. Let's be honest with ourselves here. You can break it down. The
Green Lanterns are Jedi. They have strange powers and light-based
weapons. They guard peace and justice. The Guardians of the Galaxy are
a Jedi Council full of Yoda clones. The rings are lightsabers.The
Manhunters are effectively Stormtroopers, a created army fighting for
peace only to turn on their masters. Sinestro is Count Dooku, a legend
within the Corp, who becomes disillusioned and seeks out power to end
what he sees is corruption only to become consumed by that thirst for
power. Even Hal Jordan has a Darth Vader turn in the comics when a
tragedy causes him to go mad with grief and become evil and hunt down
the Green Lanterns only to have a final moment of redemption.
Ever since the release of the original Star Wars in 1977, movie
studios have searched for a way to recapture what that movie did, not
only at the box office but in merchandising. In theory, Green Lantern
has it all. It has the merchandising potential that Warner Brothers
have long been desperate to exploit, but I believe it also has the box
office potential in creating an experience like Star Wars or Avatar.
If and when the next Green Lantern movie materializes, it should fully
embrace the space opera aspect of the mythos. There's an entire
universe to explore. Cosmic threats that demand cosmic heroes. In Hal
Jordan you have a hero with the swagger of Han Solo and the charm of
Captain Kirk.
Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
and Star Wars. I don't believe Green Lantern works as a traditional
superhero, living in a city, fighting crime and saving lives. The
source of his power indicates a much grander story in a much larger
universe. He should be hunting war criminals on Thanagar, not spending
his days tackling muggers. As Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Hal Jordan
has more to protect than just a single world and while connecting the
threat to Earth in some way can make things more personal and give the
audience a reason to care, the scale shouldn't be reduced to an Earth-
based story.
By giving Green Lantern the Star Wars treatment, it also places the
character in a unique position for Justice League. I've long
maintained that what will make Justice League work (more on this in
the coming weeks) is that each hero is different. Avengers worked by
connecting the heroes, Justice League will work by separating them and
Green Lantern fits a cosmic niche within the line-up.
Normally at this point, I'd talk a little about Hal Jordan's story and
his journey in becoming Green Lantern of Sector 2814. The trouble is,
we've had a movie about that already and now Warner Brothers face a
dilemma. There are different options on the table and I will attempt
to explore some of the pros and cons of these options.
Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/scifimediazone/news/?a=74570#CTgSHJvpwJjxphko.99
http://screenrant.com/green-lantern-2-sequel-reboot-story/
We all know it: Green Lantern (2011) missed the mark, and missed it by
a mile (read our review, if you must), ultimately stranding any plans
for Green Lantern 2 in limbo.
The hero might end up getting a second chance alongside the rest of
DC's finest in Justice League... if it ever gets made. But we're still
convinced (as is DC executive and GL-mastermind Geoff Johns) that the
character could work on film, given the right set-up and story.
Rather than nitpick every single thing the movie got wrong (we've done
that already), we've put together a plan for not only convincing fans
that the mistakes of the first movie wouldn't be repeated, but also
delivering an adventure worthy of the character, while providing
enough mythos for future sequels.
Read on for our instructions on How To Save Green Lantern 2 in 5 Easy
Steps.
Super-Menace
Feb 22, 2013, 9:02:21 AM2/22/13
to
In article
<c9bf1d78-7c53-4876...@f5g2000pbs.googlegroups.com>, TMC
are this guy has never heard of that.
What we don't need is another Star Wars approach. Asking a mass
audience to immediately plunge into the whole multi-sector Oa thing,
with all those aliens, when the mass audience is used to heroes who
work on their own in gritty urban environments, was asking too much.
<c9bf1d78-7c53-4876...@f5g2000pbs.googlegroups.com>, TMC
<tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
> and Star Wars.
It's exactly along the lines of Doc Smith's Lensman series, but chances
> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
> and Star Wars.
are this guy has never heard of that.
What we don't need is another Star Wars approach. Asking a mass
audience to immediately plunge into the whole multi-sector Oa thing,
with all those aliens, when the mass audience is used to heroes who
work on their own in gritty urban environments, was asking too much.
Bill Steele
Feb 22, 2013, 4:45:41 PM2/22/13
to
> Green Lantern Is Star Wars
To Hollywood, perhaps. Most of us know it's E.E. Smith's Galactic
Patrol.
>it was deemed a calling card for
>an overly comedic Reynolds performance that in the film, didn't
>materialize.
Lilith
Feb 23, 2013, 12:31:34 AM2/23/13
to
On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:02:21 -0500, Super-Menace
<fort...@arctic.com.invalid> wrote:
>In article
><c9bf1d78-7c53-4876...@f5g2000pbs.googlegroups.com>, TMC
><tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
>> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
>> and Star Wars.
>
>
>It's exactly along the lines of Doc Smith's Lensman series, but chances
>are this guy has never heard of that.
And since the Guardian (of the universe, not galaxy. that's a Marvel
<fort...@arctic.com.invalid> wrote:
>In article
><c9bf1d78-7c53-4876...@f5g2000pbs.googlegroups.com>, TMC
><tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
>> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
>> and Star Wars.
>
>
>It's exactly along the lines of Doc Smith's Lensman series, but chances
>are this guy has never heard of that.
thing) pre-date Yoda....
--
Lilith
Your Name
Feb 23, 2013, 3:32:04 PM2/23/13
to
<snip>
Green Lantern is always labeled as a Superhero Story, same as all th
others (Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc.). I've never seen anyone label it
Science Fiction.
>
> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
> and Star Wars.
>
<snip>
> Green Lantern is often labelled as a science fiction story, but in
> truth, it is more of a space fantasy along the lines of Flash Gordon
> and Star Wars.
>
Green Lantern is always labeled as a Superhero Story, same as all th
others (Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc.). I've never seen anyone label it
Science Fiction.
Howard Brazee
Feb 23, 2013, 6:17:14 PM2/23/13
to
On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:32:04 +1300, Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name)
wrote:
>Green Lantern is always labeled as a Superhero Story, same as all th
>others (Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc.). I've never seen anyone label it
>Science Fiction.
The author of one of the best SF novels of all time did write for
Green Lantern.
--
Anybody who agrees with one side all of the time or disagrees with the
other side all of the time is equally guilty of letting others do
their thinking for them.
wrote:
>Green Lantern is always labeled as a Superhero Story, same as all th
>others (Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc.). I've never seen anyone label it
>Science Fiction.
Green Lantern.
--
Anybody who agrees with one side all of the time or disagrees with the
other side all of the time is equally guilty of letting others do
their thinking for them.
Your Name
Feb 23, 2013, 9:48:18 PM2/23/13
to
In article <7ejii850325vnicp1...@4ax.com>, Howard Brazee
Wars, Star Trek, or Battletech novels also write stories for fantasy /
Dungeons & Dragons style books.
As I just posted in another message, "Superhero" could in fact almost be a
sub-category of "Science Fiction".
<how...@brazee.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:32:04 +1300, Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name)
> wrote:
>
> >Green Lantern is always labeled as a Superhero Story, same as all the
> On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:32:04 +1300, Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name)
> wrote:
>
> >others (Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc.). I've never seen anyone label it
> >Science Fiction.
>
> The author of one of the best SF novels of all time did write for
> Green Lantern.
Some authors write in various genres. Some of the authors of the Star
> >Science Fiction.
>
> The author of one of the best SF novels of all time did write for
> Green Lantern.
Wars, Star Trek, or Battletech novels also write stories for fantasy /
Dungeons & Dragons style books.
As I just posted in another message, "Superhero" could in fact almost be a
sub-category of "Science Fiction".
Bill Steele
Feb 25, 2013, 1:30:14 PM2/25/13
to
In article <0vkgi81ns3aeamb29...@4ax.com>,
Don't forget Ultraman (also fairly obscure, I guess).
The animated GL series has done some pretty Star Wars-like stories, but
I still find it ludicrous that a galactic police force would name itself
after a piece of pre-industrial earth technology. That's what happens
when you say to the writers "Revive this Golden Age character, but give
it a science fiction basis." They should have made the movie about Alan
Scott.
The animated GL series has done some pretty Star Wars-like stories, but
I still find it ludicrous that a galactic police force would name itself
after a piece of pre-industrial earth technology. That's what happens
when you say to the writers "Revive this Golden Age character, but give
it a science fiction basis." They should have made the movie about Alan
Scott.
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