James Gunn’s take onSupermanwon’t just featureDavid Corenswetas the Man of Steel, but a whole host of DC Comics' heroes, including Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan). The biggest of these heroes is Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), one of the many, many humans chosen to become a Green Lantern. This isn’t the first time that Green Lantern has hit the big screen — we can’t forgetRyan Reynolds’s less-than-stellarGreen Lanternfilm, especially when Reynolds is all too happy to mock its failure. But there was a time in between Reynolds' tenure as Hal Jordan and Fillion being cast as Gardner whenChristopher McQuarriewas approached by Warner Bros. to make aGreen Lanternmovie. Listening to his ideas, I can safely say thatI’m angry they never came to fruition.
Christopher McQuarrie Pitched Ideas for Superman and Green Lantern to Warner Bros., and They Sound Amazing
Christopher McQuarrie recently appeared onJosh Horowitz’sHappy Sad Confusedpodcast to discussMission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning,and eventually talk turned to a sequel he had pitched forMan of Steel. While McQuarriedidn’t give too many details, he did saythat Green Lantern would have played a part in the narrative, and that he figured out how to make the character work.
“Green Lantern was what had come to me, and Green Lantern’s a tough one. And I cracked it. The whole concept of Green Lantern is the ring has to be recharged and that’s not a bug, that’s a feature…Yes, you have infinite power, but you only have so much battery life and that can run out at inconvenient times. That, for me, solved the whole Green Lantern problem.”
I fully agree, as that time limit is what’s made Green Lantern interesting. There are plenty of stories that feature a Green Lantern having to improvise when their ring runs out of juice, and based on McQuarrie’s work with the Mission: Impossible franchise, I have no doubt that he could have wrung a juicy setpiece out of that premise.
McQuarrie also said that he discussed the idea of a sequel with Henry Cavill,and that it helped him crack the first five minutes of his Superman/Green Lantern movie.“I realized, don’t worry about the costume, worry about the character, and how do you give that character tension and stakes and also, how do you do it with Superman? Henry [Cavill] had a take on that, and I suddenly realized how these two characters had amazing similarities, which also allowed for amazing conflict and an amazing universe-expanding resolution,” he said. Once again, I have to ask:why didn’t Warner Bros. go with his idea? McQuarrie previously worked with Cavill onMission: Impossible - Falloutand showed he could do action-packed setpieces, so I’m at a loss as to why Warner Bros. didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. It certainly beats trying to pit Supermanagainst Black Adam.
The Green Lantern Mythos Is Looking To Play a Major Role in DC Studios’ Future Projects
Though Christopher McQuarrie isn’t going to bring Green Lantern to the silver screen, James Gunn andPeter Safranhave big plans for the Green Lantern legacy. Not only will Guy Gardner appear inSuperman, but he’s slated to make a cameo in Season 2 ofPeacemaker. Next year will also bringLanternsto HBO Max, which finds Green Lanterns John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) stranded on Earth while attempting to solve a cosmic mystery. While this isa far cry from the intergalactic scaleof the Green Lantern comics, it could set up for future Lantern-based storylines, especially since Nekron, the deathlike figure who serves as the antagonist ofBlackest Night, fits the description of a “cosmic horror"that Stewart and Jordan are sent to investigate. The Green Lantern story will even spread into animation, asMy Adventures with Green Lanternis in production and will focus on Green Lantern Jessica Cruz. Christopher McQuarrie is still working in the franchise game, as he recently announced that he’d cracked the story for a thirdTop Gunmovie, butI do think it’s a shame that he never got to bring his Green Lantern/Superman movie to life, as it sounds epic.
Supermancomes to theaters on July 11.
Follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views kindness as old-fashioned.
