Green Lanterns Series Fixes One Huge Problem With The Ryan Reynolds Movie
Part of James Gunn’s plans to create a successful DCU from the ashes of the DCEU is making premium television shows that share both lore and acting talent with the feature films. One of these shows is Green Lanterns, and while some fans are hyped about a series focusing on the titular space cops, others are concerned that the show might be just as disappointing as the 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds.
Fortunately, Gunn revealed one way that the show improves on the movie: on Threads, the creator revealed that the Green Lantern characters won’t have CGI costumes unless they are CG characters.
Green Lanterns Won’t Overuse CGI
In other words, most Green Lanterns won’t have CGI costumes because most of them are humanoid characters. This includes the human Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Characters that are actually computer-generated like the intimidating Kilowog will technically have CGI costumes, but Gunn seems to be emphasizing that these costumes won’t have the distracting look that the costumes in the 2011 Green Lantern film did.
The CGI Suits In The Film Looked Terrible
Why is that so significant? In the Ryan Reynolds movie, the CGI costumes were an attempt to make the costumes look cool and emphasize that they were artificial constructions created from the heroes’ power rings. Unfortunately, seeing human heads on CGI cartoon bodies was creepy.
The visual effect made every fight look like a video game cutscene. It was bad enough that the first Deadpool film called the costume out, with our titular hero joking, “Please don’t make the super-suit green…or animated.”
Everything We Know About The Green Lanterns Series
While we still don’t know exactly what the costumes will look like in Green Lanterns, it sounds like ditching the bright CGI look will better suit the tone of the show. The show has been described as a superhero mystery series in the vein of True Detective, the HBO show that is dark in every sense of the word. Admittedly, it would be difficult to take scenes of space cops investigating dead bodies very seriously if we had to constantly cover our eyes from the bright light of the costumes.
Nathan Fillion As Guy Gardner
Ditching the CGI suits also means that fans will get a better look at Nathan Fillion; he will be playing Guy Gardner in Superman: Legacy, and it’s a fair assumption that he will resume the same role in Green Lanterns. Fillion has worked closely with Gunn before as an alien voice in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film and as a quirky jailer in a funky costume in the third film.
Fillion will bring a bit of star power to the DCU, though there is not yet any official casting news for his fellow Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
James Gunn’s New DCU
As far as DCU updates go, this news from James Gunn is relatively minor, but it should still be reassuring to fans. Gunn’s comment signifies that he has been paying attention to what fans have hated about previous DC productions and that he is committed to avoiding those mistakes for future films and shows. Considering that the DC films are experiencing their own “blackest night” right now, we’re happy that Gunn is here to deliver “Green Lantern’s light,” and we’re even happier it won’t be made of CGI.
