Green Lantern on the Big Screen

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might

Beware my power. . .Green Lantern's light!"

Those are the words of a true hero. Well, actually a group of heroes. Every Green Lantern in the universe has to make the above pledge upon a glowing lantern to receive the legendary powers.

The Green Lantern is one of DC Comics' most recognized and best loved heroes. So with the waves of superhero movies on the market, and many more in production, rumors of a Green Lantern film have appeared from time to time. Just recently, Warner Bros. and DC have released that plans on a film are now moving forward.

It's about time. I hate to see rumors running amok. I personally feel DC hasn't made many good decisions when it comes to bringing their heroes to film recently. The notable exception is the current Batman series. The success of that franchise can be attributed solely to Christopher Nolan and his visionary direction from the beginning. He had the vision and the drive to make everything happen, and make it happen right. But what about DC's other characters? Superman had Superman Returns, by most accounts a decent movie, but far from a blockbuster. Wonder Woman? A project was in the works, and it has fallen through.

At one time, DC and Warner Bros. decided to hold off producing any more films of DC's mainline heroes. Instead, they planned to make a Justice League movie, which will probably still come to fruition. That meant all the work on other films, excepting Nolan's Batman projects, would either be postponed or cancelled. This effectively killed Wonder Woman.

It just seems to me that DC doesn't really know what they're doing. Sure, a Justice League film would be great to see. But I want to see Wonder Woman, the Flash, Plasticman, and Martian Manhunter come to screen, too. It's not impossible. So the current news I'm reading on Green Lantern is a welcome relief.

I would daresay that most of us like Green Lantern, but few of us are really familiar with him. In fact, "Green Lantern" isn't one person. A Green Lantern is one of a number of intergalactic crime fighters. We just happen to call the one based on Earth "Green Lantern," a title that can apply to all of them equally. DC has also had several Green Lanterns on Earth through the years. Perhaps the one most are familiar with is Hal Jordan. Some sources report the film will likely revolve around this character.

But that's what makes Green Lantern so interesting. The film could literally pick any one of the hundreds of Green Lanterns and develop a story. They could even make up a story unique to the film, and it would still work, since the Green Lantern mythos works that way. But DC will likely use a familiar scenario to embody the film.

A director and producer have both signed on to work on the film. Both intend to use Hal Jordan, and perhaps the Emerald Dawn story as source material. Releases mention possibly having Hal Jordan receive his powers, travel to Oa, be taught by Sinestro, and fight Legion. Casting information has yet to be released, but Warner Bros. has stated their top choice for Green Lantern: Ryan Gosling.

In 2004, at the Burbank Farscape Convention in Burbank, CA, actors Ben Browder and Claudia Black appeared at a panel discussion. These two were the main actors behind the science fiction television series FarScape. They later moved to Stargate SG-1 when FarScape ended. During the course of this discussion, one guest asked Ben Browder about his involvement in Green Lantern. Supposedly, there was a rumor that Browder had signed to portray the character in an upcoming film. Browder laughed it off, saying he knew nothing about it.

Filming is set to begin in 2009. Director Greg Berlanti hopes for a 2010 release.