Green Lantern is notorious in the annuls of big budget superhero movies as a blueprint of multiple things to not do when bringing the four-color realm to life in cinemas. Despite this, however, its star Ryan Reynolds has stated that it isn’t actually that bad.
After the movie debuted in 2011 to a distinctly hostile reception, Reynolds cheerfully joined in with poking fun at it, making numerous references over the years to its mediocre quality. However, he admitted in 2018 that he had never actually watched the film in its completed form, so ahead of seeing Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, he sat down for a first-time viewing while live-tweeting reactions to the events and memories of shooting it. And in the end, he decided that the movie isn’t quite the irredeemable shamble that he’s been declaring it as for the last ten years.
Maybe it’s the Aviation Gin talking, but #GreenLantern was nothing to fear! Hundreds of incredible crew and cast members did amazing work — and while it’s not perfect, it ain’t a tragedy. Next time I won’t wait a decade to watch.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 17, 2021
“Nothing to fear” is, obviously, a reference to the core tenet of a Green Lantern being able to overcome what cows them, with Reynolds perhaps suggesting that he had been afraid to view one of his most disastrously received film outings as it might make him think less of himself. Although, given the actor’s self-deprecatory sense of humor and swaggering confidence, this may be reading too much into it.
It’s probably worth noting that Reynolds’ statement of Green Lantern not being as bad as he thought is an entirely subjective perspective. While it’s somewhat entertaining on a visual scale, it’s still an overly-expository mess with thinly-drawn characters, an unnecessarily bloated runtime and ham-fisted foreshadowing of sequels that never came to pass. That said, if you juxtapose it with other DC adaptations such as Catwoman, Jonah Hex, Steel or Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Reynolds might be on to something by saying it’s not deserving of quite as much hate as it receives.