James Gunn Is Shooting Down Green Lantern Rumors
If you were hoping to see Ryan Reynolds return in the James Gunn-era of the DCU as Green Lantern, you’re probably out of luck. Gunn recently shot down any chance of the character returning after a fan asked about it in a Twitter thread. According to him, it’s not a priority for him or Reynolds and when a fan said that he was planning on coming back for director Zack Snyder, Gunn replied again saying that “he wasn’t.”
It makes sense that James Gunn wouldn’t want to revisit this iteration of Green Lantern, considering the movie was a flop and critically reviled by just about everyone, including Ryan Reynolds. In fact, Reynolds made a cheeky post-credits Deadpool scene where he goes back in time as Deadpool to assassinate an in-universe Ryan Reynolds so he couldn’t make the Green Lantern movie. Clearly, the actor doesn’t have the fondest memories of the role.
In the Twitter post, James Gunn also reveals that Superman is possibly the biggest priority at the moment, so it seems like his focus is on that for now. As far as Green Lantern goes, he notably doesn’t shut down the possibility of the character — just the possibility of Ryan Reynold’s version of the character. Perhaps we could see a different actor take on the role of Hal Jordan or we could see Gunn bring the fan-favorite John Stewart into the fold.
James Gunn has a lot of options if he does want to make Green Lantern a part of his new DCU plans. There have been several notable iterations of the character in the comics, including the aforementioned Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Although Jordan is the first human to join the corps, Stewart gained a ton of popularity due to his presence in the animated series Justice League.
James Gunn and Peter Safran are completely retooling the DCU going forward, which means previous plans are up in the air. Notably, the planned Green Lantern series for HBO Max lost its writer ad showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith at the end of October. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is being completely redeveloped and will feature John Stewart in the lead, instead of the initial plans for Guy Gardner and Alan Scott to be the leads.
James Gunn and Peter Safran started their new roles on November 1, right after the Green Lantern series news came out. The series, which is still being executive produced by Greg Berlanti, is also reportedly getting significant budget cuts after initial reports that it would be one of the most expensive shows HBO has ever made in the previous iteration. Actors Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine were also attached to star as Garnder and Scott, so it’s unclear if they’ll still be involved under Gunn’s new plans.
Recent news also indicated that James Gunn and Peter Safran may not move forward with the planned Wonder Woman 3 with Gal Gadot as part of their new plan. While it appears the Green Lantern show might still be in the cards, there’s always a chance it could be dropped completely. Stay tuned for more DCU news and any developments about upcoming projects.
