June marks the tenth anniversary of Green Lantern arriving in theaters, bombing spectacularly at the box office, going down in the history books as one of the worst comic book movies ever made and becoming the butt of a thousand jokes, the majority of which have come directly from leading man Ryan Reynolds.
The actor has explained why it’s so important to poke fun at the unmitigated disaster, which was resoundingly panned by critics and lost Warner Bros. up to $100 million, but as his star continues to rise, talk of a return constantly rears its head. There was no shortage of chatter that he was being lined up for a top secret cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which turned out not to be the case. And then there were further rumblings that he was the mind-blowing surprise guest in the third act, which he was quick to debunk, before it was revealed to be Martian Manhunter instead, someone most fans already knew would be showing up.
There’s always been a desire from the fanbase to see Reynolds get some closure and draw a real line under his tenure as Hal Jordan, though, and we’ve now heard that he might end up getting it in the most unexpected of circumstances.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources who told us the Snyder Cut was heading to HBO Max long before it was confirmed – if a Justice League sequel ends up happening, and there are admittedly a lot of variables and obstacles to overcome before it can genuinely be talked about, then Reynolds wants to be the Knightmare timeline’s Green Lantern.
DC Films are evidently happy to make standalone blockbusters, and while a Justice League 2 is far from a sure thing at this point, the idea of an alternate reality tale set outside the DCEU’s main continuity could excite the audience and present plenty of fresh storytelling opportunities, especially if they rope in big stars like Reynolds and perhaps even Henry Cavill to make it happen.