Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be here sooner than you know it, and that means more announcements and pieces of information building the hype of this massive DC ensemble.
[dropcap size=small]S[/dropcap]o far, the cast is going strong with Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck is Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as Flash, Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and Green Lantern is… Um, wait, who is Green Lantern? Well, it’s definitely not Ryan Reynolds, for obvious reasons.
Turns out rapper and musical artist Common wants the role, with rumors suggesting that John Stewart will be the Green Lantern in the film, and not Hal Jordan, the first Green Lantern which we saw in that lousy Ryan Reynolds version.
Back in 2007, before the writer’s strike, a Justice League film was planned under the title “Justice League Mortal“, which at the time was set to feature John Stewart and not Hal Jordan. At the time, the role had gone to Common, and the actor is relentless in his attempts to get that role back, seven years later. The only issue he faces at this point, really, is the sheer fact that we do not really know whether or not Stewart or Jordan will be wearing the ring in DoJ.
Photo Courtesy of @marcdorris
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While in an interview with ScreenRant, Common had this to say about his desire to put himself in the role:
“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.”
John Stewart was highly popularized in the Justice League animated series after Hal Jordan left the earth to oversee more important matters on a galactic scale. John teamed with the likes of Superman and the Dark Knight taking down some of the most dangerous DC villains of all time. Then again, as popular as John Stewart is, Hal Jordan could potentially make his return with Chris Pine in the role.
Photo Courtesy of @BossLogic
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Considering that DC is trying to keep up with Marvel with their massive and successful cinematic universe, DC may try to skip independent origin films of lesser characters and attempt to provide enough back story to please moviegoers in BvS Dawn of Justice. Assuming they do that, a backstory is likely and necessary to build up Green Lantern before seeing him in a potential reboot in 2020, as DC has scheduled. Considering all of this, Chris Pine would make sense in DoJ, then perhaps he could take over in a spinoff in 2020 featuring Hal Jordan for the characters own franchise and eventually pass the torch, err… lantern over to John Stewart.
Keep in mind that all the above is simply speculation, with Chris Pine having not commented on the rumors floating about. Though Dawn of Justice may be coming up soon, keep in mind that an official announcement of Green Lantern should come sooner, assuming that he is even really in the movie at all.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes to theaters on March 25, 2016. The film is directed by Zack Snyder and from a screenplay by David S. Goyer and Chris Terrio.
