Only a couple of years have passed since Warner Bros.' last attempt at a Green Lantern movie derailed their entire Justice League plans. That's how bad it was; it killed everything. So maybe that's part of the reason why there has been so little buzz about who will don the emerald ring next, because we know it won't be Ryan Reynolds. But with DC's superhero universe alive and kicking now Green Lantern is expected to play a major part, and the question has been which version of the character we'll see. Will it be Hal Jordan? Or will they go with a little racial diversity by selecting John Stewart, who most fans are familiar with from the animated movies and TV series.
If they decide to go with Hal Jordan, one actor who may be considered is Chris Pine. Latino Review says the Star Trek actor's name has been "floating around" for the role, although obviously nothing is confirmed. Pine has tried is hand at solo franchises before, recently in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, but he finds the most success in ensembles. Maybe if they make this a Green Lantern Corps film he would be a good choice, otherwise this seems like a bad idea to me.
However if the decision is to go with Stewart, rapper-turned-actor Common wants to be part of it. You may recall that he was meant to play Green Lantern way back when George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) was developing a Justice League film. While speaking with ScreenRant about his upcoming role in Run All Night (which stars Suicide Squad's Joel Kinnaman), Common says he'd like to take another crack at playing Green Lantern.
Common: "I would love to be John Stewart and play Green Lantern. That was one of those things where I was so excited because we rarely see African-American superheroes or people of color as a superhero. I think it would be great for the world to see, and for people to see, and for Hollywood to put that out there, too. But just for the world to see, just for kids to be able to see, for all nationalities to see a person of color as a superhero, too."
"Plus, it’s just for the fun. Even the pre-production of getting the ‘go’ and studying Green Lantern. John Stewart is from Detroit, so he was this guy that was really for the community, and I really related to that. He used his powers to help people in the community. I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to be John Stewart, the Green Lantern!’ Unfortunately, it didn’t happen at that time. But maybe the possibility is that it could. I would love to."
Neither of these are ideal options, in my opinion. Common's a great rapper, now an Oscar winner (never would have imagined that back in the "Can I Borrow a Dollar?" days), but as an actor he does little for me, and certainly doesn't have the commanding presence to play John Stewart. He would have made a better Cyborg, actually.
The Green Lantern solo film doesn't arrive until 2020 so it's a long ways off. However the role needs to be filled sooner because he'll likely appear in Justice League part one in 2017.
