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Snyder's Justice League Plan Would've Saved Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern
Zack Snyder’s unrealized plan for the DCEU after Justice League would have brought back Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern and redeemed him after the 2011 film’s poor reception. Hal Jordan is one of DC Comics’ most important and compelling superheroes, but his single live-action film, 2011’s Green Lantern, failed critically and commercially, not doing the storied comic book character justice. Ryan Reynolds was Zack Snyder’s top choice for the DCEU’s Hal Jordan, which would have finally given the character a live-action adaptation worthy of his comic counterpart and allowed Reynolds to play a better version of the classic superhero.
Reynolds, unfortunately, had major roles in two other superhero films which were considered failures. The first was Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was criticized for its lack of accuracy to the comic version of the comedic mercenary, and the second was Green Lantern, which underdeveloped the characters and world-building of one of DC Comics’ best properties. Reynolds redeemed his portrayal of Deadpool in 2016’s Deadpool, a heartfelt and comic-accurate comedy that mocked at both the Origins version of Wilson and 2011’s Green Lantern. Zack Snyder’s planned version of Hal Jordan would have similarly redeemed Reynolds’ Green Lantern.
Following the release of Justice League’s director’s cut, Zack Snyder delved into his plans for the DCEU, including his Green Lanterns, with the film including Yalan Gur and Kilowog and almost introducing Wayne T. Carr as John Stewart. Not only did Snyder want to introduce Hal Jordan to the DCEU, but he also wanted Ryan Reynolds to play a new version of the character, reprising the role in a new continuity, similar to Judi Dench’s M in James Bond and J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man. Zack Snyder is knowledgeable and respectful of the DC Comics source material, so his version of Hal Jordan would likely have given Reynolds a similar comeback to the role as his newer version of Deadpool.
One of the key issues with 2011’s Green Lantern was its poor handling of the Green Lantern mythos in general and Hal Jordan in particular. In Snyder’s DCEU plans, Jordan would be a supporting character to John Stewart in Justice League sequels and possibly the co-star of the Green Lantern Corps film. Considering how well Snyder’s version of Justice League balances humor, gravitas, action, and naturalism, he’d have presented a far better version of Hal Jordan who makes better use of Ryan Reynolds’ acting skills while having him support Wayne T. Carr as the fan-favorite John Stewart.
Green Lantern Corps appears to have been canceled, though the upcoming Green Lantern HBO Max series may incorporate elements of the planned DCEU film. If Zack Snyder’s DCEU plans had been fulfilled, his Justice League sequels would provide Carr’s John Stewart and Reynolds’ Hal Jordan with the perfect segue into the movie. Ryan Reynolds could have had another chance to play Jordan once more in a better DC franchise and redeem his version of the character, starting with sequels to Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
