Annlyel calls for the long-overdue big-screen return of Green Lantern
Green Lantern. He’s a pretty popular DC Comics hero, isn’t he? I mean, we saw Green Lantern-like individuals in Justice League. Remember that one awesome scene in Justice League where we got to see an army of epic heroes fighting Steppenwolf in a super CGI-ridden scene that was pretty mind-blowing visually? Well, that’s as close as Green Lantern has been to have a presence in the DCEU. And for good reason.
We all remember the last time Green Lantern was on the big screen. It was 2011, Ryan Reynolds was making his superhero debut as Green Lantern…the movie’s reception wasn’t pretty. The movie cost $200 million to make. It only made $219 million worldwide, meaning its profit was only $19 million. The film garnered a dismal 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 45% rating from the audience.
Since the hero’s lackluster big-screen performance Green Lantern’s been avoided like the plague in superhero cinema. And yet, the DCEU was able to bring one of the most picked-on heroes to life in Aquaman.
Aquaman, debuting in Batman vs. Superman briefly and playing a sizable role in Justice League, got his own film and the movie did very well. It received a mediocre 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 74% rating by the audience. But here’s the wow factor. The movie would go on to earn $1.148 billion dollars at the box office as it capitalized on a Star Wars-less Christmas season, becoming the highest-grossing DCEU film so far. Yeah, Aquaman did that.
Green Lantern is just as ridiculed for being considered a comedically bad superhero but it’s about time this character is highlighted on the big screen in an epic light.
Think about Shazam!, a movie that seemed doomed to fail from the start, but would go on to garner a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Unfortunately, the film couldn’t drive people to the box office so it would end up snagging an average $365 million…on a $100 million budget, which is impressive considering the superhero’s lesser-known status.
So, come on DC Extended Universe. Aquaman was turned into a billion-dollar success. Shazam of all superheroes had a fun movie whose sequel and spinoff, Black Adam starring Dwayne Johnson, are eagerly awaited. Let’s see Green Lantern get the long-awaited love that he deserves.
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
Annlyel James is a prolific Staff Writer for Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her own blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter @annlyeljames where she channels the Force frequently!
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Hello everyone. My name is Annlyel James. I’m a young woman who loves movies of all genres (specifically ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel movies.) I am also a Senior Correspondent for The Future of the Force.
Green Lantern was groovy. In the Comic book. Hal Jordan, and his magic ring. It had to be re-charged every 24 hrs. and it would not work on anything yellow.
One of things I really enjoyed about Green Lantern is the just-plain-INTERESTING villians that he fought against. Such as:
Black Hand
Star Sapphire
Sinestro
Hector Hammond
Dr. Polaris –and others.
“In Brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight,
let those who worship evils might
BEWARE MY POWER, Green Lantern’s light!”
A movie would be kewl, if they would stick to how things were in the comic book and not try to “improve” it by “modernizing” it for today.