It looks like Warner Brothers is getting series about the back half of their announced DC Extended Universe films. Shortly after revealing that their Green Lantern Corps would be a “Lethal Weapon in space,” we are getting our first look at who the studio is rumored to be considering for the role of Hal Jordan.
The Wrap gives us six names, all who have been attached to a comic book film at one time or another. The list of six are Tom Cruise, Joel McHale, Bradley Cooper, Armie Hammer, Jake Gyllenhaal and, surprise, Ryan Reynolds. Let’s round up the pros and cons of each, shall we?
Tom Cruise
Age: 54
Where you might have seen him: Come on, really?
Comic Book Movie Cred: Was attached to an Iron Man film back in 1998, most recently was attached to an adaption of the Wildstorm comic Sleeper for Warners. Fun Fact: His brother, William Mapother, played the Parasite on an episode of Supergirl this year.
Pros: He has the biggest star power of anyone on the list, by far. And overseas audiences love him.
Cons; At 54, he is the oldest actor on the list. Sure, he looks like he’s thirty, but he is old enough to sign up for AARP. If Hal is Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon scenario and John Stewart is Riggs, then this might work. But he might be a bit long in the tooth to start a franchise of this kind.
Joel McHale
Age: 45
Where you might have seen him: On E!’s The Soup, NBC’s Community or CBS’s The Great Indoors.
Comic Book Movie Cred: His film debut was as a bank manager in Spider-Man 2. He also was interviewed for the documentary Comic Con Episode IV: A New Hope.
Pros: McHale is an intriguing choice. He’s a favorite of mine from The Soup and Community. And he has done serious stuff (notably the X-Files revival) as well as comedy.
Cons: But he is primarily known for comedy. And comic fans have an aversion to comedians playing their superheroes. And his is the second oldest on the list, which has him running into the same problem you get with Cruise when it comes to the future of the franchise.
Bradley Cooper
Age: 42
Where you might have seen him: A lot of places. He’s quite popular nowadays. You know, The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, etc.
Comic Book Movie Cred: He actually auditioned for this role back in 2011. He was also at one time connected to The Crow reboot. He also voices Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Pros: He an awards-season favorite (four Oscar nods to his name) who can also put butts in seats.
Cons: He is in his 40s, which might be a concern for sequels. But other than that, not much to knock him for.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Age: 36
Where you might have seen him: Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler, Southpaw
Comic Book Movie Cred: He almost took over for Tobey Maguire on Spider-Man 2 when the latter played hardball with his contract. He was also considered for Batman in the lead up to Christopher Nolan’s reboot in Batman Begins. He has also spoke out positively about comic book films in interviews and such.
Pros: He’s a great actor willing to do what it takes to pull of a role. And if you’re going to compliment comic book films, you’ve got me in your corner.
Cons: He’s not a surefire draw at the box office. He has one hit of over $500 million, The Day After Tomorrow, but the effects were the draw there. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was a disappointment in relation to cost. Gyllenhaal gets his best return from smaller budgets (Source Code, Love & Other Drugs) or ensembles (Prisoners, Everest), which will not be what Green Lantern Corps is..
Armie Hammer
Age: 30
Where you might have seen him: Playing the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network, The Lone Ranger, and Illya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Comic Book Movie Cred: He was cast as Batman in George Miller’s cancelled Justice League film.
Pros: He looks the part of a superhero. He’s 6’5″ for goodness sake! He’s also a good actor and at 30 he could play this role for years and years.
Cons: Hollywood seems to want to make a leading man out of him and it just won’t stick. Both The Lone Ranger, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. are considered bombs. Both were buddy action films, like Green Lantern Corps is turning out to be. That has to be concerning.
Ryan Reynolds
Age: 40
Where you might have seen him: National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, The Proposal, Safe House
Comic Book Movie Cred: He’s appeared in a bunch of them: Blade: Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, R.I.P.D., Deadpool and, of course, Green Lantern.
Pros: He’s played the role before, which would add a sense of continuity to the DCEU. He has a lot of heat after the success of Deadpool, which showed he could come back to a comic book character and do it right.
Cons: With the exception of Deadpool, Reynolds’ comic book film work have either been commercial failures, critical failures or both. And Deadpool was a success due in part to Reynolds influence in the making of it. I doubt Warners will want to give that up.
All in all, it is a healthy group of actors to choose from. Of course, we must remember that this is just a primary list of rumored names. We have to see if more are added or some are taken away as the days and months pass.
