'Green Lantern': A Franchise with a Built in Reboot

Comic book giant DC has had some trouble getting their super heroes on the big screen. Batman remains their most bankable commodity, but others have had difficult transitions. "The Green Lantern" released on 6/17 but the word from critics has not been kind. The tracking for the film's opening weekend wasn't very promising either. It looks to be opening in the $50 million ballpark, which is not a strong start for a film as expensive as this one which was meant to start a new franchise. While things aren't looking great right now, Warner Brothers has a built in reboot for this franchise: there's more than one Green Lantern.

While Hal Jordan, played by Ryan Reynolds in the new movie, is the best known Green Lantern he's not the only man to don the power ring, or even the first. The original Green Lantern was Alan Scott, and his time with the power ring differed from Jordan's greatly. Scott was a railroad engineer who fashioned his own power ring from a sentient lantern crafted from a meteor and he had a weakness to wood. All of this was during DC's early years, known now as the Golden Age, and it's generally considered separate from the current comic universe. Given how wildly this version of the Lantern differs from what is known to current fans it's unlikely that Warner Brothers would ever use Scott.

Guy Gardner could be a candidate for a reboot of the series. Gardner's story actually ran almost in parallel Jordan's. When the ring came to Earth and was seeking a worthy wielder it decided there were two, Jordan and Gardner. The only reason Jordan was selected was because he was physically closer at the time. Gardner effectively became a backup Green Lantern in times when Jordan was unable to defend his sector. He might not work as a reboot candidate though because his story is too closely linked with Jordan's, making it difficult to separate the two if Warner Brothers wanted a truly fresh start.

Then there's Kyle Rayner, an artist who broke the mold of those chosen to take up the mantle of Green Lantern. Normally complete fearlessness is a requirement for any member of the Corps, something that Rayner did not possess. The reason he was chosen had to do with certain events in the comic book regarding Hal Jordan which created the need for a Green Lantern who had fear but also knew how to overcome it. As an artist Rayner also has the best imagination of any Lantern which means he's more inventive in terms of what he creates with his ring. Since his selection directly tied to Hal Jordan he seems more suited to taking up the torch from Reynolds after several sequels rather than being used for a reboot.

John Stewart however would be the ideal Lantern to reboot the entire franchise and start over. Stewart is an African-American architect who took over from Guy Gardner, so his origin is totally independent of Hal Jordan. He's also familiar to general audiences because he was featured in the "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" cartoon series from 2001 through 2006. Thanks to Stewart's near total detachment from the character used in "The Green Lantern" film and his use in television he'll be the ideal candidate to use when Warner Brothers is ready to reboot this franchise. The only question is whether they'll want to reboot it in the near or distant future, and that will come down to the box office for the new film and any possible sequels.