Rumor: Denzel Washington is Green Lantern in 'Batman vs. Superman'

Denzel Washington's name gets thrown around a lot for a lot of things, and he's now being ground up into the superhero movie rumor mill. Earlier this month a report surfaced that Warner Bros. was approaching him for the role of Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman, but that story never went anywhere because...well, there was nothing to back it up. Meanwhile things took a turn as Joaquin Phoenix's name became associated with the part. Now Denzel is back in the mix, only it's supposedly to play a certain emerald hero with a fine piece of jewelry.

The folks over at Nuke the Fridge state unequivocally that Denzel is going to play Green Lantern John Stewart in the Man of Steel sequel. They claim to have a source with the info, and perhaps they do, but this seems unlikely despite Denzel suggesting his interest in a comic book movie previously. It's one thing for Ben Affleck to play Batman since he'll be an integral part of the story, but if Denzel is going to do one of these movies it's going to be as the star, not as part of an ensemble. When was the last film he's done where he wasn't the centerpiece? Has it ever happened? Well it won't start now. It doesn't even seem as if Green Lantern will be in the movie at this point. Although it's good to see the rumors centered on a John Stewart GL and not Hal Jordan, played rather terribly before by Ryan Reynolds.

I think everyone I know has their heart set on Idris Elba, but as long as he's hanging out in Asgard it isn't going to happen.

If any of this turns out to be true, Denzel would join Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. The Flash and Nightwing are expected to make appearances in the film, clearly setting the stage for a future Justice League movie.

Batman vs Superman opens July 17th 2015.