For reasons that should be blindingly obvious, The Flash has been earning a lot of comparisons to Green Lantern on account of both their cinematic shortcomings and terrible performance at the box office. However, the ongoing screen tests for Superman: Legacy have also dredged up memories of the infamous bomb, albeit on a much smaller scale.
It’s never a good look to have the name of a $200 million comic book adaptation that cratered in the eyes of both critics and crowds weaponized when dealing with a casting call that has the potential to make or break the entirety of James Gunn’s rebranded DCU, but The Hollywood Reporter went ahead and did it anyway.
As per the reports, there are currently six contenders in the mix for the lead roles of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but it could be a double-edged sword. Not only does the actor in question have to convince as a bumbling farm boy and upstart reporter, but they also need to look the part when kitted out head-to-toe in blue spandex with a flowing red cape and their underwear on the outside.
It’s not an easy task, but THR sent a chill down the spine of DCU fans everywhere when it made a pointed reference to the process of finding the right Hal Jordan for director Martin Campbell’s ill-fated reboot. The final two came down to Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper, but the former ended up getting the nod when the latter “fared poorly in the superhero costume tests.”
Of course, it’s easy to look back now and say that Reynolds was miscast and Cooper might have made for a much better protagonist, but with the DCU having endured nothing but commercial misery since the end of 2018 and the knives already out for Superman: Legacy, it’s not a stretch to say the entire mythology hinges on Gunn getting this one right.