Geoff Johns is going to be writing and producing the upcoming GREEN LANTERN CORPS. film for Warner Bros. With this news comes some personal hopes, resentments, and willpower that is slowly dwindling. It begs the question: how much willpower does one have left when it comes to losing our patience with this franchise?

…And, is it worth it?

My Personal History with GREEN LANTERN

I was 13 when I truly started getting into comics. My time in middle school was probably similar to quite a few: crappy, awkward, and a daily struggle to navigate and find my place. I was already a big superhero fan, but I had never read or kept up with any comic series regularly at that point.

Green Lantern was never a favorite of mine, but a mentor of mine lent me a copy of GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH written by Geoff Johns. My experience and knowledge of Green Lantern were essentially limited to the JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon, so I quickly had questions of confusion:

“Wait Hal Jordan is Green Lantern? Then what’s John Stewart’s deal?…They’re both Lanterns? There’s more than one? …What kind of a name is Guy Gardner?!”

REBIRTH certainly confused me even more and was probably not the best GL comic for me to begin with. Geoff Johns had to reference back quite a lot before he could take the series to the fresh new start that he did.

However, after reading, and googling quite a bit, I was hooked. How could I not? Hal Jordan and the other Lanterns embrace their fears and move past them, forging ahead with willpower. Their own imaginations are their only limit when building constructs to fight their foes.

A Lantern belongs to a corp, having friends and allies with the same ideals and values. I read all that I could of John’s GL series. My favorite one is BLACKEST NIGHT, the culmination of Geoff Johns’ narrative since REBIRTH. Johns had created a whole emotional spectrum of colors, each with its own corp. Some were allies, while others were enemies. BLACKEST NIGHT forces them all to join forces, and I loved every page.

The Dark Times: GREEN LANTERN (2011)

Two years later, the 2011 GREEN LANTERN film releases starring Ryan Reynolds as Jordan. My excitement is high, I’m losing my mind, so happy that I’m going to get to see Hal Jordan ring slinging on the big screen. I go to the theater. I sit with my family, ready to go. We watch the film. We exit.

…I’ll admit as we walked to the car, I was still riding the high of the hype. My conversation with my brother initially went like this:

“Oh my gosh that was so cool! He made jets! And a turret gun! He fought Parallax! Sinestro’s gonna make his corp! The sequel’s going to be so cool!”

However, as we drove home, the reality of what we actually saw began to sink in. The conversation shifted:

“Parallax looked kind of weird though… Yeah so did the aliens…and his suit…and his mask… Wait did Hammond and Jordan know each other before? I’m not sure. Why didn’t the other Lanterns show up to help? Why did Oa look like a swamp?”

A second viewing with a more critical eye confirmed what I already knew in my heart. GREEN LANTERN is a crappy movie with bad exposition, poor dialogue, and terrible CGI. I could take a whole post to rant about what went wrong. I won’t. But I could.

I was crushed. I was hoping for a great movie, with better sequels and more Lanterns. This was obviously not the case. GREEN LANTERN is widely viewed as one of the worst superhero films of all time.

Apparently, it was the result of studio intervention, director switch-ups, and not enough money in the budget. Geoff Johns was brought in for the extensive reshoots, seemingly to help right the ship that had already sunk.

The Present: Geoff Johns Leaves DC Entertainment for New Production Company

It’s been common knowledge for a while that Warner Bros. will attempt to create another GREEN LANTERN film. It will be a part of the DCEU and will assumedly release in 2020. A human Green Lantern was noticeably absent from last year’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, with only a minor cameo of an alien Lantern being seen in a flashback. This is probably because Warner Bros. wanted to get more of the DCEU established. They also probably wanted to create even more distance from the dumpster fire formerly known as Ryan Reynolds’ GREEN LANTERN.

The most recent news came this last week: Geoff Johns is leaving his position as CCO of DC Entertainment. He will instead go to head his own production company Mad Ghost Productions, working closely with DC to produce films, television, and comics. It’s been reported that the first thing he will work on for them will be GREEN LANTERN CORPS., writing and producing instead of serving as an executive producer on DCEU like he has in the past.

This is pretty exciting news in my opinion, as having Geoff Johns directly involved with Green Lantern seems like a no-brainer. What’s dumb is bringing him in for damage control when it was already too late…

Hal Jordan and John Stewart confirmed for GREEN LANTERN CORPS.

Alongside the news that Geoff Johns would write and produce the film, it was confirmed that the film would star not only Hal Jordan but also John Stewart. If rumors are to be believed, the tone and feel of the film will aim towards a sort of LETHAL WEAPON in space.

Further rumors add to this, reporting that Hal Jordan will be a seasoned veteran, already having been a hero for quite some time. John Stewart will be just beginning as a Lantern, as a rookie.

A buddy cop film like this should be awesome, and I feel as though this is what the 2011 film sorely lacks. Ryan Reynold’s Jordan did almost all of his heroics solo, and that shouldn’t have been the case. He belongs to an entire corp.! Where the heck were they!?

It appears as though this is something Warner Bros. seeks to correct. An indicator is totally in the new title: GREEN LANTERN CORPS. Not a single Lantern. The whole Corp! Done right, it should be a really cool dynamic to see.

Not Enough Willpower for A Third Try

The keyword is done right. Hopefully, the studio won’t intervene, which is becoming a sort of trend, as it reportedly happened with JUSTICE LEAGUE. Many feel as though director Zack Snyder’s original cut is better than what we actually have.

Warner Bros. is seemingly becoming desperate, wanting the DCEU to perform better than it currently is, but intervention is not the answer. There’s not enough patience for another try at GREEN LANTERN or any other DC film for that matter. No more reboots! Fans and mainstream audiences alike won’t be able to take it.

A Final Note for Geoff Johns

For the last section, I’d like to write a personal note for Geoff Johns himself:

Dear Mr. Johns,

I have faith in you and I trust that you will make the best GREEN LANTERN film you can. I couldn’t be happier that you are going to write and produce this movie about a character you helped me come to enjoy and admire.

However, I do have to say a few things I’m sure you already know: The collective expectations are high. There are so many fans, myself included, that want to see an awesome Green Lantern film so bad. Please get the bad taste of 2011 out of our mouths.

I’m so ready to see what you have in store. Also, if I may suggest, please don’t feel like you have to wait for a sequel to introduce the Sinestro Corps. Go ahead and wait on the rest of the spectrum, but I gotta see Hal and John fight Sinestro while Kilowog fights Arkillo in the background! (Feel free to connect with me for further thoughts and ideas.)

Anyways, good luck and work hard, because I doubt anyone will care for a third attempt…It’s kinda all or nothing. No pressure. You’ll do great 🙂

Sincerely,

Kevin Erdmann from ComicsVerse

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GREEN LANTERN CORPS. releases in 2020 from Warner Bros.